However, trailing after halftime, 59-13, the Crimson rallied, giving the Fighting Irish an opponent it would have to fight against. Harvard more than doubled its shooting percentage from 17.2 percent to 40 percent, netting 30 points in the second half.
Even with this effort, Notre Dame continued to dominate, with five different players putting up double figures. Sophomore forward Taya Reimer led the host, scoring 14 points. This performance is nothing new for the Fighting Irish, which has beaten three teams by 54 or more points in this year’s undefeated campaign.
Ultimately, the Crimson was unable to catch up to Notre Dame, and it would have to enter day three of the Hall of Fame Challenge with a 1-1 record.
“It didn’t result in a win, but we learned a lot from that game [against Notre Dame],” Dinkins said. “When we have games like that [in the future], it will have a different outcome.”
HARVARD 87, QUINNIPIAC 83
In the first game of the tournament, Harvard took on Quinnipiac (3-2), beating the Bobcats, 87-83.
The close score fails to indicate the impressive performances made by forwards Fagbenle, McDonnell, and Healy. Fagbenle’s 28 points and 11 rebounds, McDonnell’s 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Healy’s 18 points and 11 rebounds marked the first time a Crimson trio has notched double-doubles since 2000.
“Those three players having double-doubles—that’s just will,” Dinkins said. “They knew that they needed to do that to win and that was really just sacrificing and doing it for our team.”
The game started when Fagbenle’s jumpshot found the net 20 seconds in. Both teams continued to put up points, and Harvard began increasing the lead on Quinnipiac. Scoring 12 consecutive points, the Crimson was up, 18-6, five minutes into the game.
As the first half continued, the Bobcats managed to bring the score to a two-point margin, despite not being able to close it. As the buzzer sounded, Quinnipiac trailed Harvard, 37-41.
The second half proved a more heated contest, with a seemingly transformed Bobcat team taking the court. Quinnipiac quickly overtook the Crimson for the first time in the game.
The competition became even closer in the last 10 minutes. The neck-and-neck battle lasted until the last two minutes, when Fagbenle sunk a three-pointer and a free-throw, giving Harvard a one-point lead that the Crimson would not relinquish.
“It was that mental state of knowing that we’re there for each other and [that] we had to play as a team to pull out the win,” Curtis said.