0-2
DePaul/Harvard
1-1
Late Surge by Harvard Downs Mustangs, 83-76
11/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHICAGO, IL – Harvard defeated the Cal Poly women's basketball team, 83-76, when they put together a 14-0 run late in the game despite 25 points from senior Jonae Ervin and 21 points from senior Molly Schlemer in the team's second game of the Maggie Dixon Classic hosted by DePaul University.
With the loss the Mustangs fall to 0-2 for the season while Harvard improves to 1-1. Cal Poly returns to the court on Friday, Nov. 15 when the team will visit Stanford.
Harvard held the hot hand throughout the game, hitting 54 percent from the floor and connecting on six of 15 from long range. Cal Poly shot 39 percent from the floor and made seven of 26 from the beyond the arc. Harvard went to the line 30 times, making 23 while Cal Poly attempted only nine free throws and made five.
Harvard outrebounded the Mustangs 46-33 while Cal Poly turned the ball over just 13 times and forced Harvard into 29 turnovers. The Mustangs were whistled for 26 personal fouls compared to just 13 for Harvard.
Ervin's earned all-tournament honors when she averaged 21 points in the two games. Her 23 points against Harvard came when she hit nine of 17 shots from the floor and three of five long range. Schlemer's points came when she made 10 of 17 shots from the floor and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Junior Ariana Elegado added 12 points with Kristen Ale helping out with eight.
Christine Clark led Harvard with 22 points with Temi Fagbenle adding 16 points and Erin McDonnell checking in with 13 points. Melissa Mullins led the team with 12 rebounds while Fagbenle made it a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Harvard opened the game with three-straight field goals forcing a Cal Poly timeout just two and a half minutes into the game. Mustangs got on the board at 16:39 on an Elegado three and scored their second field goal at 13:50 when on a jumper by Elegado with the Mustangs trailing, 12-5. A layup by Schlemer at 11:36 cut the lead to three, 12-9, and a three pointer by Kristen Ale (10:00) cut the lead to two (16-14).
A three by Ervin (8:32) pulled the team within one (18-17), but Harvard pulled out to a four point lead, 25-21, on a pair of free throws. Cal Poly came back on a pair of layups by Schlemer to give the Mustangs their first lead of the game, 27-26, with 4:03 left in the half forcing a Harvard timeout. The teams traded points until Harvard connected on three-straight field goals and held a 38-33 lead. A three by Ervin with 49 seconds left and a jump shot by Ervin at the buzzer cut the lead to one, 41-40, at the half.
Schlemer led the Mustangs at the half with 16 points while Ervin added 10. Cal Poly shot 38 percent from the floor and made four of 14 from long range. Harvard shot 65 percent for the half, but made just one of five three-pointers.
Cal Poly took an early lead in the second half on a three by Ale, 49-47, with the teams then trading points. Layups by Ale and Schlemer put the Mustangs up four, 60-56, with 10:36 left in the game. But Harvard hit a pair of field goals to tie the game (62-62) and after an Amaka Ofodu field goal, Harvard hit a three for a 65-64 lead with 7:46 left on the clock.
Harvard went on a 14-0 run to open up a 76-64 lead on the Mustangs with 6:20 left in the game with the run broken by a Maddison Allen's layup with 6:02 left (76-66). A layup by Ervin pulled the team within eight (81-73) with 2:18 on the clock and a second layup by Ervin made it 83-76 (1:05). But the Mustangs would get no closer in the final minute of play.
