ITHACA, N.Y. – Harvard women's basketball (12-8, 5-2 Ivy) bounced back this evening to close their weekend with a win by dropping Cornell (7-12, 1-6 Ivy), 63-52.
Katie Krupa had her second straight 20+ point performance and notched her first career double-double to help lead the Crimson in scoring. The sophomore posted 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Mullaney joined in double digit scoring with 11 points and four rebounds.
How it Happened
Krupa quickly picked up right where she left off from last night's contest, registering the first Crimson bucket of the night less than a minute in.
By grabbing the 6-4 lead off a jumper from
Harmoni Turner, the Crimson would go on to never trail throughout the rest of the contest. With a relatively back and forth rest of the frame, Harvard held a four-point advantage after ten minutes.
The second quarter remained relatively low scoring with Harvard claiming the advantage 12-10 after the ten minutes of action. After the contest came to a 20-20 draw, Harvard's 9-3 scoring effort resulted in a six-point halftime lead. Going into the locker room Krupa already had accounted for 14 points and five rebounds. Allowing just 23 points to the Big Red, the Crimson defense held its opponent to shooting 27.3% from the field and 25.0% from beyond the arc in the first half.
After a scoreless first two and half minutes to open the second half Krupa connected off an assist from
Lola Mullaney to ignite a 7-1 run, giving Harvard their biggest lead of the contest so far. Another pair of buckets from Krupa and Zaric later in the frame allowed the Crimson to pull ahead by even more, sitting with a 41-28 advantage seven minutes in. With 1:35 left, Mullaney cashed in a triple to bring her career total to 261, tying the senior for second all-time in career three-pointers with Erin Maher '92. Ultimately, five points from the Big Red put the Crimson lead at 44-36 heading into the final frame.
Despite pressures from the Big Red, Harvard never allowed their lead to fall under two possessions. As the Crimson grabbed three of its five steals and had only one turnover in the final frame it was able to close out the weekend with a victory.
Four free throws from Turner and Mullaney ultimately put brought the Crimson lead back to double digits and closed out the 63-52 win.
Harvard Highlights
- By posting 20+ points for the second straight contest, Katie Krupa led all scorers in the contest with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting. By adding 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals the sophomore registered her first career double-double.
- Across the Crimson 1-1 weekend Krupa averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
- Lola Mullaney joined in double figures with 11 points. As Mullaney drained a triple in the third quarter she tied Erin Maher '92 for second all-time in career three-pointers with 261 made throughout her four years.
- Mona Zaric made her first career start this evening. While playing valuable minutes for the Crimson, the junior added nine points, two rebounds, and three assists.
- Saniyah Glenn-Bello added nine points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block for an all-around performance against the Big Red.
- Harmoni Turner made an impact all over the court this evening contributing eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
- Of their 26 made field goals against Cornell, Harvard assisted on 16 buckets with Glenn-Bello leading the team with four and Turner, Krupa, and Zaric each adding three.
- Harvard won the rebound battle over the Big Red by grabbing 48 boards to its 37. The Crimson move to 10-1 when outrebounding its opponent in a contest.
- Though Cornell connected first in the contest, once gaining the lead at the 7:23 mark in the first quarter the Crimson did not trail for the remainder of the game.
- The Crimson matched its season-low in turnovers, only registering seven throughout the contest.
- While attacking the offensive boards for a total of 12 rebounds, the Crimson connected for 19 second chance points while only allowing six to the Big Red.
Next Up
The Crimson will close out its four-game road stretch next weekend when it travels to Hanover, NH to face Dartmouth on Saturday, February 10. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Leede Arena and on ESPN+.
