Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. - Closing out its New York road trip, the Harvard women's basketball team (12-12, 6-6 Ivy) fell to Cornell (9-13, 4-7 Ivy), 52-49, on the evening Saturday, Feb. 19.
On the offensive end, Harvard had three players put up double-digit points on the night. Phenom first-year
Harmoni Turner led the way with 19, while sophomore
Lola Mullaney posted 11 and first-year
Elena Rodriguez put up 10. On the defensive end, Turner and junior
Maggie McCarthy locked up the Cornell offense, putting up six and four steals respectively.
A low scoring first quarter kicked off the contest, with both teams struggled to get their shots to fall, going the first two minutes without putting up any points. Finally breaking through onto the stat sheet, Mullaney buried a long two, giving the Crimson its first points and first lead of the game. Harvard would find the basket once more off of a Rodriguez triple, but would go on to experience a nearly six-minute scoring drought, allowing for the Big Red to pull away, 14-5. Finally seeing some success late in the period, a Turner triple pulled the game back into reach, with the Crimson down just 14-10 going into the second.
Riding its offensive momentum, the Crimson kicked off the second quarter with two quick jumpers, tying the game at 14 two and a half minutes in. Keeping their foot on the gas, Harvard snatched the advantage from the Big Red, going on a 12-4 run to take a 22-18 lead into the half.
With both squads trading baskets to start off the third quarter, the Crimson was able to maintain its lead, up 30-27 halfway through the period. However, a deep three from Cornell out of the media timeout evened the game up at 30, the fourth tie of the night. Despite the Crimson finding points at the foul line, the Big Red rode their offensive success to a 38-34 lead heading into the fourth.
Able to close the lead to just three with five minutes left to play, seven well-timed points on the quarter from Turner kept the Crimson within striking distance. While Cornell's success from beyond the arc gave it as much as a five-point lead, a deep three from Mullaney pulled back Cornell's margin to two, with the Crimson trailing just 50-48 with two minutes left in the contest. Despite Harvard keeping it close to literally the last second, Cornell was able to outlast the Crimson, with the Big Red escaping with a 52-49 win.
Harvard Highlights
- The Crimson forced 23 turnovers out of Cornell, including 14 steals.
- Capitalizing on their defensive success, Harvard scored 23 points off of turnovers.
- Turner led the way in the paint, snagging seven rebounds.
- Both Rodriguez and McCarthy dished out two assists tonight.
- This was just Rodriguez's first start on the season.
Up Next
Returning home for its final home game of the regular season, the Crimson will host Princeton next Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
