Cambridge, Mass. - The Harvard women's basketball team (15-9, 8-4 Ivy) defeated Cornell (10-15, 3-9 Ivy), 86-59, to clinch a berth in the Ivy League Madness Tournament in front of a packed Lavietes Pavilion with many Crimson alumni in attendance. 

Tonight's game invited the women's basketball team's many supportive alumni back to the Harvard campus after they spent the day with the team and had a chance to get back on the court earlier in the day. The game also raised awareness of breast cancer and gave the players and coaches a chance to honor those who they play for. 

Lola Mullaney started the game with a three, followed by a steal and layup from Elena Rodriguez to give the Crimson the first five points. A close matchup for the rest of the quarter left the Crimson down 12-14. 

The Crimson came to life and outscored the Big Red 21-9 in the second quarter after a pull up jumper from Harmoni Turner regained the lead early in the quarter. Maggie McCarthy hit her second and third three of the night to widen the gap and after a last second layup from Harmoni Turner, the Crimson entered the locker room up by ten, 33-23. 

Elena Rodriguez scored in the first ten seconds of quarter three, as the Crimson shot 100% for the first three and a half minutes of the quarter. McKenzie Forbes joined Turner in double digits as they ended the quarter almost doubling their lead at the half, 60-42. 

Forbes hit two more threes early in the fourth quarter to bring the team to a new season-high 13 threes. Mullaney, Rodriguez and McCarthy added points to hit double digits as well as Harvard ended the game ahead to clinch their playoff berth, 86-59.

Harvard Highlights

• Forbes topped the leader board in scoring as she put up 20 points throughout the night, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three. 
• The Crimson had five players in double digits for the first time since Jan. 2022. Joining Forbes with 10+ points were McCarthy (17), Turner (16), Rodriguez (12) and Mullaney (10). 
• Mullaney and Forbes led the team in rebounds for the first time this season, pulling down five each. They were followed by Turner, McCarthy and Elle Stauffer with four each. 
• Rodriguez dished out five assists throughout the night, followed by Stauffer with three. 
• Maggie McCarthy shot 5-for-5 from three to post a new career high in three point field goals made.  
• Harvard scored a season high 15 threes, led by McCarthy with five, Forbes with four and Mullaney and Turner with two each. Stauffer and Saniyah Glenn-Bello also scored from beyond the arc. 
• Threes were a key part of the Crimson victory as Harvard scored 45 points from three over Cornell's 15. 
• Harvard has clinched a spot in the Ivy League Tournament with their victory over the Big Red. They will await the results of the next two contests to determine which seed they will enter the tournament in. 
• With today's win over Cornell, Harvard has moved to 75-12 over the Big Red in the all-time series. This win pushes the Crimson to 2-0 against Cornell in the 2022-23 season. 
• The Crimson are now 8-4 in conference play and sit tied for second with Penn in conference standings.

Up Next

Harvard will travel to Princeton, N.J. next Friday, Feb. 24 for the last regular season game of the 2022-23 season. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.