CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In their return to Lavietes Pavilion, the Harvard Women's Basketball team (12-7, 5-2 Ivy) defeated Penn (13-7, 5-2 Ivy) convincingly in a must-win Ivy contest.
Elena Rodriguez had a career day the lead the Crimson, scoring 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting.
The Crimson came out of the locker room ready to play, grabbing the first eight points of the contest off a three from
Lola Mullaney, followed by a three and fast break layup from Rodriguez on consecutive possessions. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle with a balanced scoring attack from the Crimson. A three at the end of the quarter put the Quakers ahead through one, 20-18.
A pair of quick dishes from
Harmoni Turner to Rodriguez put Harvard back up to begin the second quarter. Mullaney and Rodriguez continued their dominance through the last few games by both racking up double digit points through the first quarter and a half. The Crimson ramped up the energy on both ends of the court in the second quarter. After allowing 20 in the first quarter the Quakers were held to nearly half that while the more than doubled their score to lead 40-31 going into half.
The Crimson came out firing to begin the third quarter with
Saniyah Glenn-Bello knocking down a three and converting a layup on consecutive possessions. Shortly after, Turner pushed Harvard to their largest lead thus far of 17. Deep into the third,
McKenzie Forbes began to heat up, knocking down a pair of threes. Strong defensive pressure and several clutch shots kept the Crimson ahead of Penn 63-49 going into the final frame.
Rodriguez set the tone for the Crimson in the final quarter with an and one finish followed by a steal at the other end. Harvard continued to hold the lead throughout the fourth, pulling ahead by 21 with less than four minutes left following another and one finish from Mullaney. The Crimson never let the Quakers gain an edge and a three from
Katie Krupa with less than one minute left was the exclamation point to seal the win 84-60.
Harvard Highlights
- With a double-double, Rodriguez led the Crimson in points (28) and rebounds (11). She also added 3 assists, a block, and two steals on the day. 28 points is a new career high for Rodriguez.
- Mullaney (19), Turner (12), and Forbes (10) added double digit points for Harvard, making this the second Ivy contest Harvard has had four players in double digits.
- Mullaney has been dominating in recent contests, scoring in double digits for the seventh straight game and fourteenth time this season.
- Turner had a double-double of her own, dishing out 12 assists to go along with her 12 points. Turner also pulled down seven rebounds.
- Following Turner's 12 assists, four teammates posted three assists each to bring the Crimson a season-high 24 assists, while Penn only passed off ten.
- In the second and fourth quarters the Crimson only let up 11 points while scoring more than 20 in each quarter.
- With their win today the Crimson lead the all-time series over the Quakers, 55-35 and have moved to 5-2 in the Ivy League, sitting in a three-way tie for second.
Up Next
The Crimson will hit the road next weekend for a back-to-back Ivy weekend. Harvard will visit Yale on Friday February 3 followed by Brown the next day. The contests will begin at 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
