Photo of Victoria Lippert courtesy of Gil Talbot.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard women's basketball team got back in the win column Friday night with an 85-61 win victory over Harford in front of 1,202 fans at Lavietes Pavilion. Sophomore Victoria Lippert led four Crimson players in double figures.
Lippert went 9-for-13 from the field to lead the Crimson with 21 points in 22 minutes of action. Senior Emma Markley who was honored before the game for 1,000 points, grabbed her first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds as well as blocking three shots. Brogan Berry added 13 points and five assists, while Christine Clark contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Both teams started off strong in the first half, but a 10-5 run by the Crimson that last 2:40 gave the home team a 25-13 lead midway through the first half. Harvard extend that lead to 27-20 over the next seven minutes as Brogan Berry scored eight straight points, including two threes on feeds from Miriam Rutzen and Christine Matera. Hartford cut the lead to 11 with just over a minutes remaining in the half before a Elle Hagedorn drive in the lane with a second on the clock gave Harvard a 37-26 lead at the break.
Berry led all players with 13 points and four assists, while six other players found the bottom of the hoop in the first 20 minutes. The Crimson shot a season-best 57.7 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from long range.
Hartford outscored the Crimson 10-5 in the first 2:36 on the second stanza to cut the deficit to 44-36. Emma Markley and Victoria Lippert responded with a lay-up and jumper in the paint, respectively to extend the lead to double digits. Lippert then scored nine straight Crimson points in 2:40 and Jasmine Evans added a fastbreak lay-up to give the home team at 59-42 lead with 11:38 remaining in the game. A Clark lay-up and a three-pointer from Matera sparked a 18-6 run that gave Harvard its largest lead of the game, 79-51 with 3:25 on the clock.
The Crimson shot 52.4 percent for the game and shot a 37.5 clip from long range. Harvard put up 32 points in the paint and earned 17 second chance points on 16 offensive boards. Hartford shot 35.8 percent from the game. Harvard outrebounded the Hawks, 42-25.
Harvard travels to Florida for its first meeting in 10 years Tuesday, Dec. 7. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
