Photo of Emma Markley courtesy of Gil Talbot.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard
women's basketball team dropped its first game of the season
at Lavietes Pavilion to league leader Princeton, 78-66, Saturday
afternoon. Junior Emma Markley led three Crimson (19-8, 10-3 Ivy
League) players in double figures with her seventh double-double of
the season.
Markley led the Crimson with 21 points and 10 rebounds, connecting
on 10-of-18 shots from the field. The Yorktown Heights, N.Y.,
native also had four blocks. Freshman Victoria Lippert added 15
points, while sophomore Brogan Berry had 13 points, seven rebounds,
seven assists and two steals on her 20th birthday. Berry catapulted
to second on the single season assists list after posting seven
against the Tigers. She has 156 handouts this season and 256 for
her career, which is just seven away from ninth on the all-time
career assists list.
Junior Jackie Alemany also had seven boards.
After Princeton jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes
of the game, Markley got the Crimson on the board with a jumper at
the 15:56 mark. The Tigers continued adding points on the board as
the visitors pulled out to a 14-9 lead. Markley scored the first
six points of the game for the Crimson.
After trailing for the opening 10 minutes of the first half,
Markley tied the score and Berry gave the Crimson the lead on
consecutive jumpers. Harvard held a five-point advantage with four
minutes remaining in the half but the Tigers went on a 9-1 run to
end the frame. Princeton held a 36-33 lead at break. Markley had 10
first half points to pace the Crimson.
The two teams battled in the beginning of the second half as
Harvard tried to regain the lead. The Crimson closed the gap to
single-digits several times over the first part of the second half
and a jumper from Lippert with 11:19 remaining in the game tied the
score at 54-5-4. But an 8-0 spurt from the Tigers put the visiting
team up 62-54 with 5:49 left to play.
Alemany hit 1-of-2 attempts at the free throw line and Markley
capitalized on a tradition three-point play to make it a four-point
game with 5:02 on the clock. Niveen Rasheed hit back-to-back
lay-ups to put her team back on top 66-58 two minutes later. The
Tigers continued to increase its lead late in the second session
using a 9-2 run over a two-minute span to make it 73-60. Harvard
came as close as 11 in the final minutes of play.
Harvard shot 39.0 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the
charity stripe. The Tigers shot 45.5 percent from the field.
Princeton held a 43-37 in rebounds.
The Crimson closes out its Ivy League season Tuesday against
Dartmouth at Lavietes Pavilion. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
