Northwestern fell to Harvard 75-50 Saturday, its largest margin of defeat this season.
The Wildcats (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten) were led by senior forward Caileigh Walsh, who came off the bench and scored a team-high 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Walsh also added two steals on defense.
The Crimson (7-1, 0-0 Ivy League) dominated on the boards, outrebounding NU 46-26, including a 22-9 offensive rebound disparity.
Walsh, who led the ’Cats in rebounds last season, finished the game with one rebound. She said she was disappointed by the team’s struggles on the boards and said it needs to play with more physicality moving forward.
“We need to be able to fight through adversity better. We need to be tougher,” Walsh said. “I had one rebound, that’s unacceptable. Nobody rebounded.”
The ’Cats paced well with the Crimson early in the game, trailing 16-13 after the first quarter.
Graduate transfer guard Kyla Jones averaged over 16 points against Harvard during her career at Brown. Jones scored first for NU with a nifty move at the basket, her lone field goal of the game, as she finished with four points.
Sophomore guard Casey Harter nailed two first-half 3-pointers and freshman guard Xamiya Walton hit one late in the first quarter as the ’Cats shot 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. The team’s 3-point shooting sputtered after that, going 1-for-8 in the second half.
Harvard pulled away in the second quarter as NU committed six turnovers. The Crimson scored eight of their 26 second-quarter points off of turnovers and led 42-26 at the half.
The ’Cats finished the game with 18 turnovers and 17 made field goals.
Harvard’s offense, which averages over 74 points per game, was powered by a 17-point performance from senior guard Elena Rodriguez. The Crimson shot an inefficient 38% from the field but were powered by their rebounding dominance. They took advantage of their wins at the glass by scoring 19 second-chance points compared to Northwestern’s four.
Harvard senior guard Harmoni Turner, who entered the game averaging 23.8 points per game, was held to eight by the ’Cats on 2-of-14 shooting. Turner struggled shooting but contributed four rebounds and a team-high six assists.
With five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the ’Cats narrowed the Crimson lead to eight points. Harvard stifled NU’s momentum with seven unanswered points, including a three-pointer from Rodriguez who scored nine in the quarter. The Crimson closed the third quarter with a 57-42 lead.
Coach Joe McKeown said that although the team has capable shooters, three-point shooting is not a key piece of its identity. Against the Crimson, the ’Cats shot under 40% on two-point field goals and were 6-for-16 on layups.
Harvard’s defense zeroed in on NU’s post players, often employing double teams and clogging passing lanes out to the perimeter.
“If we can score and stretch you on the three-point line, our bigs will have a lot more touches on the blocks and be able to play one-on-one, instead of being doubled,” McKeown said. “That’s something we gotta be better at.”
NU is still settling into its primary lineups, with offseason additions still acclimating and players like Walsh recently returning from injury. McKeown said building consistency is necessary for the team to make successful adjustments against aggressive defenses like the Crimson.
“We’ve got to get some continuity in our offense,” McKeown said. “We got physically taken out by Harvard. They just bumped us, beat us to spots and banged our cutters. When we got it inside it was really crowded for our bigs. Harvard’s defense was part of that, but we’ve got to do a better job of knowing where to go with the ball.”
The ’Cats will look to bounce back at nearby Loyola Chicago Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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