Cambridge, Mass. - After a break from competition during the Harvard reading period, the Harvard women's basketball team (6-5) defeated Maine (4-8) at home, 84-56.
McKenzie Forbes led the team with 23 points, followed by Harmoni Turner with 18 and Elena Rodriguez with 13. Turner posted a new career-high seven steals throughout the game as the Crimson tied their season-high 15 steals. Seven steals ties Turner for seventh in steals in a single-game in school history.
Head Coach Carrie Moore said "The way we came out and answered runs showed our foot was on the gas the entire time. I'm really proud of the team and the way they responded to the last two weeks of work we put in."
Forbes started the day for the Crimson, scoring a layup early in the first minute of play. Two free-throws by Saniyah Glenn-Bello brought the Crimson their first lead of the game; a lead Turner built on with eight points in the first quarter. Harvard stole the ball from Maine four times in quarter one, scoring 13 points off turnovers to end the quarter 24-12.
Gabby Anderson and Rodriguez started the second quarter for Harvard, as the Crimson out-rebounded the Black Bears 13 to ten in the second quarter. Harvard made another four steals in the second quarter to go into the locker room up 37-24.
Glenn-Bello scored the first points of the second half in minute one of the third quarter, starting another dominant ten minutes for the Crimson. They outscored the Black Bears 22 to 16 in the quarter, shooting 50% over Maine's 41% to bring the score to 59-40.
Both teams remained scoreless for the first minute and a half of the final quarter, with Harvard continuing to dominate the Black Bears offensively as they outscored Maine 25-16 in the final ten minutes. Harvard made 100% of their free throws and three of five three point field goals in the fourth quarter to bring the final score to 84-56.
Harvard Highlights
- Forbes led the team in points with 23 followed by Turner with 18 for a combined 41 points. This is the fourth game of the 2022-23 season that Forbes has scored 20+ points and the fifth where she has led in scoring.
- Turner scored a career-high seven steals, contributing to the team's 15 total steals to tie the season-high in the metric. Forbes reported three steals and Anderson reported two.
- Forbes led the team in assists with seven, followed by Turner with three.
- Eight of the nine Crimson players to hit the floor tonight scored at least two points for Harvard. Following Forbes and Turner, Rodriguez posted 13 points and Lola Mullaney and Anderson posted eight each.
-Turner led the team in rebounds with seven, followed by Glenn-Bello and Anderson with six.
-The team recorded eight steals in the first half of the game, a season high for steals in the first 20 minutes of play. They finished the game out-stealing the Black Bears 15 to four to tie their season-high in steals.
- In addition to points off steals, Harvard reported 26 total points off turnovers compared to Maine's five points off turnovers.
- Harvard drew 11 fouls throughout the game, shooting a free throw percentage of 72.7% as they made eight of 11 shots compared to Maine's one of two.
- Harvard scored 18 fast break points, a metric in which Maine reported zero points.
- Today's win brings the Crimson one game closer to evening out the series with the Black Bears, as the record now stands at 8-10, Maine. The Crimson have also won their second game in a row against the Black Bears after defeating them 69-40 in the most recent matchup on Dec. 7, 2019.
Up Next
The Crimson will travel to Boston University to compete in the last non conference game of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 4:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
