CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's basketball (16-11, 9-5 Ivy) posted a dominant, 75-48, win over Dartmouth (7-19, 1-13 Ivy) to get back into the win column prior to the start of postseason action.
As a team, the Crimson shot 43.5% from the field and 33.3% from distance while assisting on 16 of its made buckets and registering its second highest steal total to complete the total team victory.
Harmoni Turner led the attack for the Crimson by contributing 24 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, four assists, and a season-best six steals.
Katie Krupa and
Abigail Wright each joined Turner in double figures while adding 15 and 12 points, respectively.
How it Happened
While Turner hit the opening bucket of the contest just 15 seconds in, play started slowly for either team in the first quarter. The Big Green were able to jump out to a small, 4-10, lead midway through the quarter but a 10-2 run fueled by four different Crimson scorers allowed Harvard to takeover after 10 minutes.
A pair of ties in the early minutes of the second frame were the final moments for the rest of the contest that the Crimson would not control the advantage. As
Gabby Anderson powered to the rim for an unassisted bucket, Harvard pulled out to its largest first half lead of seven.
A few traded buckets including a Turner step-back in the closing seconds would place the score at 32-26 in favor of the Crimson heading into the locker room. After 20 minutes, Harvard had received scoring contribution from six different players with Turner, Wright, Krupa, and
Lola Mullaney each notching five or more points.
The Crimson used the third quarter to come alive and separate from the Big Green. Krupa, Turner, and Rodriguez combined for 22 of the team's 23 third quarter points as the Crimson shot 52.6% from the field to outscore Dartmouth by 13. Harvard's lead got out to 20 as the squad went on an 18-5 run throughout the first six minutes of action.
Heading into the final frame, the Crimson held a comfortable 19-point advantage. Harvard forced Dartmouth to nearly double its turnover total from the first half in the third quarter alone, forcing seven turnovers and creating 12 points from the takeaways.
Harvard didn't take their foot off the pedal through the fourth, never letting its lead drop below 20 and growing it out to as many as 30. The Crimson let up just three buckets throughout the final frame as it outscored the Big Green 20-12 to close the regular season with a 75-48 victory.
Harvard Highlights
- Harmoni Turner led the way by posting 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, a career-best 13 rebounds, four assists, and a season-high six steals all while registering no turnovers.
- Katie Krupa had another solid performance for the Crimson contributing 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from distance, two rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.
- Making her third career start, Abigail Wright added 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, an assist, and a steal.
- Gabby Anderson provided solid minutes for the Crimson by adding seven points, six rebounds, and a pair of steals.
- Elena Rodriguez nearly joined in double figure scoring, contributing nine points on 3-of-7 shooting while also adding four boards, and two steals.
- As a team the Crimson shot 43.5% from the field (27-of-62) and 33.3% (7-of-21) from beyond the arc.
- The Crimson, who rank second in the league in assists, continue to share the rock as it assisted on 16 of its 27 made buckets on the night.
- Turner and Karlee White combined to lead the team in assists by each dishing out four dimes while Lola Mullaney followed closely behind with three.
- Harvard dominated the paint against Dartmouth, scoring 32 of its points in the paint while only giving up 12 to the Big Green.
- The Crimson forced the Big Green into its third highest turnover total of the season, forcing 21 turnovers, resulting in 28 points on the other end for Harvard.
- Harvard won the rebounding battle against Dartmouth, grabbing 39 boards to the Big Green's 24. 15 of the Crimson total rebounds came on the offensive end while Turner contributed seven, grabbing more than half her rebounds by attacking the offensive glass.
- The Crimson defense didn't let up more than four field goals in any quarter as it allowed its second least point total of the season, only giving up 48 points to the Big Green.
Next Up
With the victory, the Crimson secured its place as the three-seed in Ivy Madness. Depending on the results of this weekend's final Ivy match ups, Harvard will face either Columbia or Princeton at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 15 as it looks to reach its second straight Ivy tournament championship game.
