CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's basketball (13-8, 6-2 Ivy) will return home for the first time in the month of February this weekend for its second back-to-back with Cornell and Columbia in the last three weekends. 
 
The Crimson will open the weekend against Cornell on Friday, February 16 at 6:00 p.m. before welcoming Columbia on Sunday for a national televised game on ESPNU at 2:00 p.m. 

What to Know

• Harvard began their 2023-24 season and the second year under head coach Carrie Moore with 13 non-conference match ups, standing at 7-6 heading into league play.  Through the out of conference slate the Crimson tallied six strong victories over Boston College, Quinnipiac, UMass, North Dakota State, SMU, UMass Lowell, and Delaware and falling only to Maine, BU, URI and a trio of Power 5 opponents.
• Through the first half of Ivy League play, the Crimson now stand at 13-8 after going 6-2 by picking up wins against Yale, Brown, Penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth.    
• The Crimson closed out its four-game road stretch last weekend by downing Dartmouth, 68-50 to open the second half of league action. 
• Against the Big Green, Harvard had five players reach double figures led by Lola Mullaney with 16 and followed by Harmoni Turner and Katie Krupa with 14 and Mona Zaric and Abigail Wright with 11 each. 
• By knocking down the opening bucket of the contest, Mullaney moved into No. 2 all-time in career three-pointers with 262.  Now with 263 in her four-years the senior only sits behind Katie Benzan (287) for the title.  Mullaney also added five rebounds, two assists, a block, and three steals in the contest. 
• Turner had a strong all-around performance by adding seven rebounds, four assists, and a team-leading four steals to her 14 points. 
• With her four steals, Turner is now just two takeaways from tying and three from moving into the top-five for career steals, currently with 169. 
• Mona Zaric posted a career-best and first ever double-digit performance with 11 points in her second straight start. 
• As a team the Crimson shot 40.3% from the field and 43.5% from distance. 
• Harvard notched double digit triples against the Big Green by going 10-for-23.  It marked the seventh time this season the Crimson have hit 10 or more triples in a game and the first time in Ivy League action. 
• The Crimson posted double digit steals against Dartmouth to capitalize for 18 points off turnovers. 
• By grabbing 37 boards to the Big Green's 33, the Crimson improved to 11-1 when outrebounding its opponent.  16 of the team's boards came on the offensive end of the ball, aiding their 19 second chance points. 
• Turner picked up right where she left off when returning from injury in January.  The junior currently ranks second in the league in scoring by averaging 19.7 points per game along with fourth in assists (4.1) and sixth in steals (1.8). 
• Rodriguez, who had a breakout season last year, continues to be dominant presence all-around for the Crimson.  The junior is averaging 11.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game through the first 18 contests.  In 2023-24, Rodriguez has scored in double figures 12 times and has led the team in rebounding and assists in 12 and 10 games, respectively.  While shooting 55.1% from the field, Rodriguez ranks first in the Ivy League, a title which she held at the end of last season. 
• Mullaney is performing at a high level in her senior season by currently averaging 13.6 points and career bests in rebounds (3.7), assists (1.9), and steals (1.1) through the first 21 games.  The senior currently stands with 263 career three-pointers and sits No. 2 all-time in Harvard history for career three-pointers made. 
• With five field goals against the UMass Lowell, Mullaney cracked the Harvard women's basketball top-10 with 470 career field goals. The senior now has 514 made field goals throughout her four years and will continue to climb the top-10 list throughout 2023-24.
• The Crimson first-years, Mary Hollensteiner, Karlee White, and Abigail Wright, all have made an immediate impact this season.  Hollensteiner has proven her shooting abilities early and led the team in scoring in their win over Quinnipiac.  White has started 13 games for the Crimson and has begun to blossom on both the offensive and defensive ends.  Lastly, Wright averages 17 minutes a game and is contributing 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per appearance. 
• In the Ivy League the Crimson rank second in assists (14.5) and third in scoring (69.5), field goal percentage (42.7%), three-point percentage (31.7%), and three-point field goals (6.9).
• Not allowing its opponents to have the same success from behind the three-point arc, the Crimson rank first in the league in three-point percentage defense, holding its opponents to 27.1% from three.
• The Crimson will look to win its fifth straight against the Big Red as they meet for the 87^th time in history.  With a win, Harvard could grow its advantage in the all-time series to 74-13. 
• To close out the weekend, Harvard will look to break a two-game slump against the Lions and grow its already large lead in the all-time series.  With the 78^th all-time meeting approach, the Crimson currently hold a 65-12 advantage.    

Next Up

The Crimson will remain home next weekend as it welcomes Brown to Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m.  With the recent changing of its final regular season match up, Harvard will now celebrate its two seniors, Lola Mullaney and Kennedy Heath, next weekend.