CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Toppling its longtime rival for its fifth-straight Ivy League win, the Harvard women's basketball team (12-9, 6-3 Ivy) defeated Yale (13-8, 6-3 Ivy) by a score of 65-59 tonight at Lavietes Pavilion.
Two Harvard players recorded double-digit points tonight. First-year
Harmoni Turner led the way with a career-high tying 25, followed by junior
McKenzie Forbes with 15. Showing up on both sides of the glass, Turner and Forbes spurred the team on defense as well with Forbes tallying eight rebounds and four steals. Turner put up seven rebounds and four steals of her own.
With defenses ruling the day early, the Crimson was held scoreless through the first three and a half minutes of play, while Yale was limited to just one triple. However, Yale's early 3-0 lead was broken by a steal into a layup-and-one by Forbes, finally getting Harvard on the board and leveling the game at three all. Unable to get shots to fall, both teams found their points in the paint and at the free throw line, with the Crimson trailing the Bulldogs, 10-6, heading into the second quarter.
Finding its rhythm offensively, the Crimson kicked off the second period scoring with a long triple from junior
Maggie McCarthy, closing Yale's lead to just one. Continuing its smothering defensive play combined with a rejuvenated offensive attack, the Crimson took its first lead of the game off of a contested Turner shot to go up 12-10 on the Bulldogs with 7:30 left in the quarter. Riding the hot hand, Turner responded to a Yale jumper by splashing one in from beyond the arc, widening Harvard's lead to 17-12. Closing out the quarter with both squads trading baskets, the Crimson went into the half up 23-17.
Unable to quell a voracious Yale attack out of the break, the Crimson was outscored 7-2 in the first two minutes of the third quarter, with Yale taking a 25-24 lead. However, success from the free throw line carried Harvard back in front, with Turner, Forbes,
Tess Sussmann and
Lindsey Lawson all nailing their foul shots to give Harvard a 33-28 advantage halfway through the period. In a quarter that saw 14 total fouls, both teams continued to play a tough, physical game, with the Crimson holding onto a 44-37 lead going into the fourth period.
While both teams were held scoreless through the first minute of the fourth quarter,
Annie Stritzel's contested layup off of an inbound pass jump started the Crimson offense. Maintaining its momentum, back-to-back triples from Stritzel and Turner extended Harvard's margin to 53-41 three minutes into the fourth, its first double-digit lead of the game. However, Yale's success in the paint and at the free-throw line prevented the Crimson from pulling away, keeping pace with Harvard's high-powered offense and narrowing the lead to 57-48 with four minutes left to play. Nevertheless, despite the Bulldogs' full-court press defense and production from beyond the arc in the final minutes, Harvard outlasted Yale, closing out the victory 65-59.
Harvard Highlights
- Turner tied her career high in points with tonight's production.
- Turner set a new career high in both free throw attempts and free throws made, going 8-11 from the line tonight.
- Forbes and Turner each tallied a team-best four steals.
- The Crimson held an advantage over Yale for 66.5 percent of the game, leading by as many as 12 points.
- The Crimson defense held the Bulldogs to just a 31 percent field goal percentage.
- Harvard is 1-1 with Yale on the season, having avenged its Jan. 8th loss to the Bulldogs tonight.
- Harvard is now 55-34 all-time against Yale in program history.
Up Next
Staying in Cambridge for the third game in a row, the Crimson looks to extend its win streak against Penn next weekend. The game will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12th at 5 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion, and will be streamed on ESPN+.
