PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – After trailing until the fourth quarter, the Harvard women's basketball team (10-9, 4-3 Ivy League) came from behind to take down Penn (7-11, 2-4 Ivy League), 70-63, at The Palestra today. With the win, the Crimson moved to 4-3 in the Ivy League and 10-9 overall.
 
Junior McKenzie Forbes led the Crimson offensively with 18 points. Juniors Annie Stritzel (12) and Maggie McCarthy (11), along with sophomore Lola Mullaney (11), reached double figures as well. First-year Harmoni Turner and senior Tess Sussman followed closely behind with nine points. Turner and Sussman nearly notched double-doubles, leading the defensive end with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
 
Penn jumped out to a 9-2 lead to begin the game. Baskets from Sussman and Forbes brought the Crimson within five at 11-6 halfway through the opening frame. Penn added to its advantage down the stretch, before Forbes hit a buzzer-beating triple to end the quarter trailing 13-9.
 
The Quakers widened their margin to 18-11 at the start of the second quarter. Back-to-back lay-ups from Annie Stritzel, along with two triples from Forbes, cut the Crimson's deficit to 23-21 at the midway point. Stritzel knocked down her seventh point of the quarter with a triple to bring Harvard within four at 28-24. Despite a pair of free throws from Mullaney and a last-minute steal and lay-up from McCarthy, Penn took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
 
Penn held Harvard scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the third quarter, while adding seven points to its score. McCarthy and Sussman kept Penn's lead to 10 with two buckets. An offensive surge from the Crimson, with triples from Turner and Mullaney, cut Penn's lead to seven at 49-42 heading into the final frame.  
 
Harvard used a 12-4 run to kick off the fourth quarter and cut its deficit to one at 55-54. The Crimson then took its first lead of the day at 57-55 after a triple from Forbes, before increasing its advantage to six after baskets from Sussman, McCarthy and Turner. Dominating the remainder of the quarter, an 8-5 run from the Crimson sealed a 70-63 come-from-behind victory.
 
Harvard Highlights
- Forbes dished out a team-best four assists, followed by Turner and Stritzel with three apiece.
- Forbes shot 4-for-6 on three-pointers and 4-for-4 from the line today.
- The Crimson went 12-for-14 from the charity stripe.
- Harvard tallied 10 steals against the Quakers, including a team-best five from Sussman,

Up Next
Harvard will return home to host Brown and Yale next weekend, Feb. 4-5. The Crimson will face the Bears on Friday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m., before matching up against the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Saturday's contest on NESN as well, and will be open to the public for admission.