WACO, Texas – Harvard women's basketball suffered their second loss of the season to No. 21 Baylor despite battling neck and neck with the Bears.  Although Baylor snuck away with a 81-71 victory, the Crimson fought for 40 minutes against the nationally ranked opponent led by Texas native, Harmoni Turner scoring a season best 29 points in her homecoming. 

How it Happened

After the Bears connected on the first bucket of the game the Crimson got on the board with a made layup from Turner off a Baylor turnover.  Falling behind 5-9, Lola Mullaney hit a three and drove to the bucket for five straight points and the first Harvard lead of the day.  Trading leads and ties several more times throughout the final five minutes, the Bears ultimately took a two-point lead at the conclusion of the first quarter. 
 
The back-and-forth battle continued into the second frame as scoring was even through the 10 minutes.  Despite the Bears pulling ahead by as many as seven the Crimson remained close with buckets from Turner, Mullaney, and Elena Rodriguez.  The second quarter served as the Crimson best shooting of the game as they shot 61.5% from the field and 66.7% from three.  Harvard trailed 37-39 going into the locker room following a last second triple from Mullaney.  At the half both Turner and Mullaney had already reached double digits in scoring with 16 and 11, respectively. 
 
Coming out of the locker room the Bears were able to go on a run to increase their lead and held steady with a 60-50 advantage headed into the final frame as the Crimson continued to battle.
 
Back-to-back three's from Mullaney and Katie Krupa to begin the fourth quarter cut the Baylor lead to four and started to swing the momentum.  The two teams continued to trade buckets down the stretch but ultimately Baylor was able to hold onto their ten-point lead, ending the contest with an 81-71 victory.   
Quarter 4
Harvard Highlights

• Turner led all scorers with a season-best 29 points in her homecoming.  The junior also contributed with seven boards and a team-high five assists.
• Mullaney and Rodriguez joined as double-digit scorers, also putting up strong performances against Baylor. 
• Mullaney once again caught fire from three, sinking five triples to contribute to her 19 total points.  The Crimson senior also had a team and season high, four steals in the contest. 
• Rodriguez had her first double-double of the season with both 11 points and 11 rebounds.  The junior's 11 boards were a team high as the Crimson out-rebounded the Bears 37-29. 
• Harvard once again attacked the offensive boards, with 12 of their 37 total rebounds coming on the offensive end of the ball. 
• The Crimson made double-digit threes for the third straight game as the squad shot 41.7% from beyond the arc.

Next Up
The Crimson will remain on the road for its Thanksgiving break trip and travel to San Diego, California for the Coast 2 Coast 2023 San Diego Classic.  At the tournament, Harvard will face North Dakota State on Friday, November 24 and SMU on Saturday, November 25.  Both contests are set for 2:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on FloHoops.