Cancun, Mexico. - In the second matchup of the Cancun Challenge Tournament, the Harvard women's basketball team (3-3) dropped a close contest to Oklahoma State (6-1) with a score of 62-71.

Harvard almost amounted a late comeback against the Cowgirls, outscoring them in the second half. This was largely led by the efforts of three Crimson players shooting points in the double digits: McKenzie Forbes with 21, Harmoni Turner with 14 and Elena Rodriguez with 12.

Head Coach Carrie Moore said of the game, "I couldn't be more proud of the fight we displayed today. Without Maggie McCarthy for the first time all year, I thought our team really responded to what happened to us yesterday in a great way. We needed to get a couple more stops there at the end, but this group is really battling and coming together in a great way."

Harvard won the jump ball to start the game, followed by Turner hitting the first field goal of the game to put the Crimson ahead. Harvard held the lead for a large portion of the first quarter, out-rebounding the Cowgirls 11 to ten and shooting a free throw percentage of 75% over the opponent's 40%, going into the second quarter down 16-18.

Harvard struggled to start the second quarter, allowing Oklahoma State to build up a lead, but began to pull them back in during the second half of the quarter.  The team once again out-rebounded the Cowgirls, this time nine to seven. Going into the half, the Crimson had scored nine second chance points over Oklahoma State's three, largely due to their efficiency in offensive rebounds. Forbes lead with 12 points with a game score of 26-38.

In a similar fashion to Thursday's game, Harvard came into the second half with more confidence and proceeded to outscore the Cowgirls in the third quarter of action, 16-14. The Crimson shot 100% from the free-throw line and only turned the ball over twice in contrast to the Cowgirls' five turnovers. The Crimson went into the fourth quarter down by ten, 42-52.

The Crimson kept their momentum from the third quarter going into the fourth, once again outscoring the Cowgirls, 17-15 in the final ten minutes of play. They shot 72.7% in field goals and 100% in three-point shots and free throws in the quarter. Unfortunately, the late comeback fell short of a win as Oklahoma State finished ahead, 62-71.

Harvard Highlights

- Forbes lead the team in points with 21. This is second  game this season she has been the top scorer for the Crimson and scored 20+ points.
- Turner posted three assists while four Crimson players each posted two: Forbes, Rodriguez, Gabby Anderson and Saniyah Glenn-Bello.
- Rodriguez and Turner reported points in the double digits as well, with Turner scoring 14 and Rodriguez scoring 12.
- Anderson and Rodriguez both reported rebounds in the double digits, with Anderson posting 11 to lead the team and Rodriguez posting ten. Together they accounted for over half of the team's 40 rebounds.
- Anderson was the only player to report a block and steal against the Cowgirls, posting one block and two steals.
- In a similar pattern to both wins and losses so far this season, the Crimson have once again out-rebounded their opponent. Harvard posted 40 rebounds over Oklahoma State's 38, 13 of them being offensive rebounds while the remaining 27 were defensive.
- Harvard scored 17 second chance points after these offensive rebounds, compared to Oklahoma State's seven.
- Harvard has outscored their opponent in the third quarter in both games at the Cancun Challenge, outscoring the Cowgirls today 16-14.
- The Crimson were incredibly accurate in shooting during the fourth quarter, hitting 66.7% of field goals, 75% of three-point shots and 100% of free throws.
- Harvard held the Cowgirls to a nine-point margin of victory, posting a closer final score than the last time the two programs met in 2012, a contest in which the Crimson fell by 30 points.

Up Next

The Crimson will face off against Florida State at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26 in the Crimson's final game of the Cancun Challenge Tournament. The game will stream on FloHoops.