“I think basketball is a game of runs,” said sophomore Rochelle Bell. “We got a little tense and nervous instead of reacting and stepping up the defense.”

Spread Thin

In each of the Crimson’s three losses this year to ranked opponents, Harvard has allowed four players from opposing squads to score more than ten points.

While the Crimson varied its defense in an attempt to bewilder and stifle the Eagles, BC was never stunned for more than a possession or two.

Instead, the Eagles reversed the ball with ease, particularly along the baseline, and kept the Crimson guessing as to who would score next.

“We have such a great outside game, but we also have a great inside game,” said BC junior Amber Jacobs. “I think Harvard tried to switch it up, tried to stay out on our guards. But then our post [players] kept putting it in.”

All Harvard earned for its troubles were 22 fouls, 14 of which came in the second half.

Those fouls put the Eagles in the double bonus with more than half the period to play, foreshadowing doom for the Crimson.

In contrast to the Eagles multi-pronged attack, Harvard’s offense was confined primarily to Peljto, who once again led the squad in scoring with 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half.

No other Harvard player managed more than six points as the Eagles stifled the Crimson offense.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.