Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Closing out its regular season at home, the Harvard women's basketball team (13-13, 7-7 Ivy League) fell to Princeton (22-4, 14-0 Ivy League), 73-53, today at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson concludes the season in fourth place in the Ivy League standings, earning a spot in the Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament next weekend.
 
First-year Harmoni Turner led Harvard's offensive efforts with 15 points, followed by junior Maggie McCarthy with 12. Turner, along with junior Annie Stritzel, dished out a team-best three assists each. Defensively, Turner led the way with six rebounds, while three Crimson players tallied five boards, including McKenzie Forbes, Tess Sussman and McCarthy.
 
After nearly two minutes of scoreless action to begin the game, Princeton went on a 9-2 run to take an early lead. A 6-2 run for the Crimson, with layups from McCarthy, Sussman and Stritzel, brought Harvard within three at 11-8 midway through the opening frame. The teams traded triples to make it a 14-11 game in favor of the Tigers, before Princeton used a 6-0 run to widen its margin to nine. Stritzel laid in four points to close the quarter with the Crimson trailing 20-15.
 
Princeton came out of the gates with sharp shooting in quarter two, using an 11-0 run to build a 31-15 advantage. Harvard netted its first basket of the quarter at the five-minute mark with a jumper from Forbes, while Lola Mullaney followed with a basket to cut the Crimson's deficit to 31-19. Despite a triple from McCarthy to close the quarter, the Tigers' defense held Harvard at bay to take a 37-22 lead into halftime.
 
Turner kicked off scoring in the third quarter, drilling a triple and two layups within the first two minutes of action. After two Princeton baskets, Forbes sank the Crimson's second triple of the quarter to make it a 41-32 game. The Tigers responded with two triples of their own, before Harvard used an 8-4 run to stay in it at 51-40. Princeton ended the frame with three-straight baskets to maintain its lead at 57-40 heading into the final frame.
 
The teams exchanged free throws to start the fourth quarter. McCarthy and Mullaney broke through to secure baskets for the Crimson, but the Tigers continued to pack on the defensive pressure. Keeping Harvard off the board for four minutes of play, Princeton strung together a series of free throws to close the quarter and seal a 73-53 victory.
 
Harvard Highlights
- Maggie McCarthy shot 5-for-8 from the field, a team-best 62.5 percentage.
- Tess Sussman recorded three of Harvard's seven total steals.
- The Crimson scored 16 second-chance points and 14 points off turnovers. 

Up Next
The Crimson secured a spot in the 2022 Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament as the fourth seed. No. 4 Harvard will take on No. 1 Princeton on Friday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. in the semifinals at Lavietes Pavilion. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The winner will advance to the championship game on Saturday, March 12 at 5 p.m. on ESPNews.