Cambridge, Mass. - The Harvard women's basketball team (9-6, 2-1 Ivy) fought hard into overtime, ultimately falling to Yale (8-8, 2-1 Ivy) in Lavietes Pavilion, 70-71. 

Tonight's contest was the team's Pride game, celebrating all those in the LGBTQ+ community. This was the first game this season that has gone into overtime. 

McKenzie Forbes got the first quarter started for the Crimson, scoring five early points with a layup and a three-pointer. Elena Rodriguez knocked down the only block of the quarter, with the Bulldogs leading 17-15 after ten. 

Rodriguez tied it up in the first minute of quarter two, with the Crimson and Bulldogs trading baskets for the next few minutes. Yale pulled away toward the end of the quarter, resulting in the Crimson going into the half tasked with making up 12 points. 

Maggie McCarthy scored the first Crimson points of the second half, hitting from three and starting a momentum shift for Harvard that lead to nine consecutive points from Harmoni Turner. Harvard outscored Yale 14-10 in the third quarter to cut the Bulldogs' lead to eight. 

The Crimson started the fourth quarter with a ten-point run to tie the game at 47 with just under seven minutes to go. Harvard outscored Yale 24-16 but after gaining a narrow lead, the Bulldogs tied it up at 61 to force the game into overtime. 

Yale controlled the ball for the first half of overtime play, building a six point lead. Rodriguez scored from the floor to cut the lead to four followed by Turner hitting from three to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one. In the final seconds, the Bulldogs took the win, 71-70. 

Harvard Highlights

• Harmoni Turner put up 26 points for the Crimson to lead the team, scoring 20 in the second half alone. She finished the game shooting 10-of-24 from the floor and 2-of-3 from three. This is her seventh game of the season scoring 20+ points. 
• Rodriguez and Mullaney also scored in the double digits, scoring 14 and 13, respectively. Each of the three players in double digits tonight posted 10+ points in both games this weekend. 
• Gabby Anderson pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the team in the metric. She was followed by Rodriguez with seven and McCarthy and Turner with five.
• Anderson and Rodriguez led the team in assists as well, dishing out two each. 
• Rodriguez posted a career high three blocks, knocking down three of the Bulldogs' shots. 
• The Crimson's longest run of 12 points came in the third quarter, when McCarthy started off with a three followed by Turner's nine points in a row. They followed it up with a ten-point run in the fourth quarter to tie the game. 

Up Next

The Crimson will hit the road for two away Ivy League contests next weekend starting at Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 14. They will then head to Hanover, N.H. to face the Big Green of Dartmouth on Monday, Jan. 16. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.