Columbia
Harvard
Women's Basketball Rallies to Nearly Defeat Harvard, 70-68
1/28/2017 10:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| Score by Quarter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Columbia | 16 | 11 | 21 | 20 | 68 |
| Harvard |
16 | 23 | 14 | 17 | 70 |
| Stat Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Columbia | Harvard |
| FGM-A | 23-57 | 26-69 |
| FG% | 40.4% | 37.7% |
| 3FGM-A | 3-10 | 8-26 |
| 3FG% | 30.0% | 30.8% |
| FTM-A | 19-22 | 10-13 |
| FT% | 86.4% | 76.9% |
| Rebounds | 40 | 40 |
| Assists | 11 | 13 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 7 |
| Blocks | 2 | 5 |
| Steals | 3 | 4 |
| Individual Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Columbia | Harvard |
| Points | Camille Zimmerman (22) | Jeannie Boehm (20) Katie Benzan (20) |
| Rebounds | Tori Oliver (14) | Destiny Nunley (9) |
| Assists | Camille Zimmerman (4) | Katie Benzan (5) |
| Steals |
Three tied with 1 |
Sydney Skinner (2) |
| Blocks |
Camille Zimmerman (1) |
Jeannie Boehm (3) |
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Less than 24 hours after a quadruple-overtime win at Dartmouth, the Columbia women's basketball team nearly pulled off a second spectacular victory, but fell in the final seconds to Harvard, 70-68, Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.
After trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, the Lions clawed their way back. They tied the game in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and regained the lead, 56-55, when junior Camille Zimmerman drained a 3-ball with 8:17 to go.
Harvard took the lead back and the two sides traded shots until the final minute of play. Trailing by two with less than 30 ticks left, head coach Megan Griffith drew up a baseline-out-of-bounds play that freed up Zimmerman in the lane, tying the game back up at 68.
Madeline Raster saved the day for Harvard (16-1, 4-0 Ivy), hitting a pull-up jumper with 4.9 seconds remaining that proved to be the game winner. Columbia (11-6, 1-3 Ivy) had one last chance and got the ball to Zimmerman underneath the basket, but her contested attempt at sending the Lions into another overtime game did not go down.
“For me, this game shows huge growth,” Griffith said. “Our girls were completely gassed after the game last night, but they showed that it didn't matter … I'm in love with this team. They've completely bought in and showed me that now they believe in themselves and they are not who they were before. They're ready to move forward.”
A day removed from hitting career-highs in points and rebounds in 58 minutes played against Dartmouth, Zimmerman continued to impress with a game-high 22 points. Seventeen of those points came in the second half, as the Tempe, Arizona, native also added eight boards, a team-high four assists and filled up the stat sheet with a block and a steal.
Senior Tori Oliver scored 16 points and was a force on the glass by tying her career-high of 14 rebounds. Senior Devon Roeper had another great performance off the bench, following up Friday night's 18-point game with 15 points and nine rebounds against the Crimson. Sophomore Paulina Koerner completed a quartet of Lions in double figures with 13 points.
For Harvard, Jeannie Boehm and Katie Benzan each scored a team-high 20 points. Raster put up 18, including the game-winner in the final seconds.
The Lions showed no signs of being tired from Friday night's quadruple-overtime marathon at Dartmouth, coming out with the game's first eight points. Koerner did the majority of the scoring, slashing through the lane and down the baseline for eight first-quarter points. Zimmerman's first basket put Columbia in front 8-0 at the 4:44 mark.
Harvard began the game 0 for 8 from the field with two turnovers. Its first points came on a Boehm basket at the 4:18 mark. Boehm went on to score seven points before the end of the period, as the Crimson found their offense to tie the game at 16 by the end of the period.
Harvard's offense continued to click in the second quarter, hitting eight field goals, including three from long range, to outscore Columbia 23-11. A 7-0 run pushed Harvard's lead to 25-19, but Roeper was able to convert an old-fashioned 3-point play to keep the Lions around. However, the final two minutes belonged to Harvard, as Boehm scored, Benzan connected for three and Raster closed another 7-0 run to make it a 39-27 game at the half.
Koerner led all Lions with eight points at the half, all of which came in the opening quarter. Benzan and Boehm each had 13 for Harvard, who hit six threes on 14 attempts.
After going the entire first half with a made 3-pointer, Columbia got one from Koerner to begin the second half. Harvard maintained a double-digit lead until Roeper sparked a 6-0 third-quarter run with back-to-back buckets to cut the margin to four. An 8-2 run to begin the fourth quarter ended with Zimmerman's triple that gave the Lions their first lead since 19-18.
“We decided we were going to come together in that second half, stick to the game plan and grind to get back in the game,” Griffith added.
The Crimson scored the game's next five points and held a 65-60 edge with less than three minutes on the clock. Oliver and Roeper combined for Columbia's next four points to slice the deficit to one. Zimmerman's tip shot tied it back up, but Harvard kept its winning streak alive on Raster's shot.
The Lions remain on the road next weekend, when they travel to Yale and Brown. Columbia begins with Yale on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by the Bears on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Postgame Notes:
- It was the second time in the last three series meetings at Lavietes Pavilion that Columbia and Harvard went down to the final possession. The Lions also came up just short in an 82-81 decision in February of 2015.
- Zimmerman extended her double-figure scoring streak to 17 games and registered her 12th 20-point game of the season.
- Columbia and Harvard were even in rebounds at 40 apiece, marking the first time this season the Lions did not outrebound their opponent.
- Tori Oliver tied her career-high of 14 rebounds.
- Harvard improved to 59-3 in the all-time series. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by three points or less.
