CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's basketball (17-10, 10-4 Ivy) and Columbia (20-7, 11-3 Ivy) will write another chapter in their rivalry this weekend as they meet in the semifinals of the 2026 Ivy League Tournament on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will be the second meeting between teams in less than a week and the fourth straight season they have met at Ivy Madness.

The Last Time Out

• The Crimson came back from 16-down to defeat Columbia, 68-64, in the regular season finale, denying the Lions a share of its fourth straight Ivy League title.
• Karlee White willed the Crimson to victory, tallying a team-high 24 points, nine rebounds, and four steals. After struggling in the first half, White fueled Harvard's comeback with 20 second-half points on 7-of-9 shooting.
• Olivia Jones rose to the occasion against the Lions with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, three rebounds, three steals, and two assists. The first-year, who leads the league in assist/turnover ratio, committed zero turnovers in a career-high 35 minutes played.
• Saniyah Glenn-Bello added 12 points, a block, and two steals and had the team's best plus/minus at +13.
• Katie Krupa added solid minutes with eight points, two rebounds, a block, two steals, and a team-high four assists.
• Harvard shot over 60% from the field and forced 15 turnovers in the second half to help secure its largest comeback since 2023.
• The Crimson's defense forced 23 Lions turnovers, their third-highest turnover total this season. Harvard capitalized for 19 points off Columbia's miscues.

All-Ivy

• Harvard earned a handful of All-Ivy year-end honors headlined by Olivia Jones being named the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year. The captain duo of Karlee White and Abigail Wright capped off breakout junior seasons with a unanimous First Team All-Ivy and a Second Team All-Ivy selection, respectively. Katie Krupa rounded out the honors with her second selection to the Academic All-Ivy Team.
• Jones wasted no time making a name for herself in the Ivy League as she is one of eight players in conference history to win nine Rookie of the Week honors and is now the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. The Pennsylvania native was a consistent, steady presence for the Crimson throughout the season, averaging 5.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
• White elevated her game in every aspect this season, averaging a team-best 15.4 points on 55.5% shooting from the field and 46.7% from three along with 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. It is the first All-Ivy nod of her career.
• Wright also stepped into a starring role for the Crimson this season, averaging 13.5 points on 45.7% shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. It is the first All-Ivy nod of her career.

Calm in the Madness

• Harvard has made every Ivy Madness since its inception in 2017.
• Of those eight years of the tournament, the Crimson has been the No. 3 seed seven times, including this season.
• Harvard won its first Ivy Madness title in program history and was the first non-No. 1 seed to win the tournament last season.
• It was a Harmoni Turner '25 masterclass in the semifinals as she recorded a tournament and program record 44 points to lift Harvard over Princeton, 70-67.
• The Crimson trailed by as many as 13 midway through the third quarter but eventually took its first lead since the first quarter at 62-61. After pulling in front again at 66-64 with 2:45 remaining, Harvard never again relinquished its lead.
• The following day, Harvard took down the top-seed Columbia in a 74-71 thriller.
• The Crimson received contributions from throughout its lineup as eight different players added points to the box score.
• Turner was named the Most Outstanding Player with another show-stopping performance of 24 points, four assists, and three steals against the Lions. Elena Rodriguez (13) and Karlee White (12) also added double-digit points in the contest.
• The Crimson hold the only three upsets by seed in the tournament's history. Outside of its two upsets last season, Harvard also knocked off Columbia as a No. 3 seed in 2022-23.

Stepping into a Leading Role

• Karlee White and Abigail Wright have smoothly transitioned into leading roles this season. The juniors are the top scorers for the Crimson and are each averaging career highs with 15.4 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. The totals rank inside the top 10 in the Ivy League.
• Wright is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.3 per game to rank seventh in the Ivy League. More specifically, the junior forward attacks the offensive glass and is currently the 27^th-best offensive rebounder in the nation with her 3.7 per game average.
• Not only is White averaging a career high but she is also doing so at an incredibly efficient rate, shooting 55.5% from the field. The percentage ranks as the best in the conference.
• Before being sidelined with an injury, the junior guard began the year by scoring in double figures in five of the first six games, matching her entire total of games in double figures from her first two seasons. White has raised her game even more since returning, adding 14 more 10+ scoring outings to her career total.
• The junior pairing was elected as the team captains for the Harvard women's basketball team prior to the start of the 2025-26 season.

Stuffing the Stat Sheet

• Saniyah Glenn-Bello has consistently provided a presence all over the court during her senior season.
• Glenn-Bello is averaging career highs in nearly every statistical category by averaging 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
• The senior ranks third in the league in blocks, ninth in steals, and 14^th in scoring.
• After not scoring in double figures in the first four games, Glenn-Bello has now done so in 16 of the last 20 games.
• After netting 17.5 points on 54.2% shooting and 77.8% from three while also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, 1.5 steals, and having the game-tying and winning threes against Brown, Glenn-Bello recorded her first career Ivy League Player of the Week honor.

First Impressions

• Olivia Jones made her mark in the league early and continued to impress often. The Pennsylvania native won the first Ivy League weekly honor and went on to win eight more throughout the season. She is one of eight players in league history to earn at least nine Rookie of the Week honors and joins Allison Feaster '98 and Temi Fagbenle '15 as the only Harvard players to do so.
• To cap off an all-around first year in Cambridge, Jones was unanimously selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
• Overall, she averaged 5.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
• The first-year appeared in 24 games and stepped into a starting spot in the final 12 games of the season.
• In the regular season finale, Jones was instrumental in the Crimson's comeback win, tallying 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
• The last time the Crimson were in Ithaca, Jones recorded her first career double-double with a career-high in points and assists with 17 and 10, respectively.

A Rivalry Renewed

• The Crimson and the Lions will meet for an unprecedented 13^th time in four years this Friday.
• Harvard is 4-9 against Columbia since Carrie Moore arrived in Cambridge but those wins have come in some of the highest stakes games.
• In 2023, the Crimson got its first win over the Lions under Moore, recording the first upset in Ivy Madness history with a 72-65 overtime win. The semifinals defeat would ultimately deny Columbia an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• It would be nearly two years later that Harvard would get its next win over Columbia, defeating the Lions 60-54 on their home court in the regular season last year.
• Harvard then faced Columbia with an Ivy League Tournament championship on the line last season. The Crimson again denied the Lions a chance at its first tournament crown, winning a nail-biter, 74-71.
• Looking to halt another championship, Harvard went into a sold-out Levien Gymnasium last weekend and dropped the Lions, 68-64. With a win, Columbia would've earned a share of its fourth straight Ivy League title and been the No. 1 seed in Ivy Madness. Instead, the Crimson came from down 16 to close the regular season in the win column.

Defense is the Difference

• The Crimson is once again providing intense pressure on the defensive end of the ball.
• The Crimson currently ranks second in the Ivy League in scoring defense (56.9) and blocked shots (4.0).
• Nationally, Harvard has the 21^st-best scoring defense in the country by holding opponents to 56.9 points per game.
• Last season, the Crimson consistently ranked as one of the top scoring defenses in the league and ended the year as the fifth-best scoring defense in the nation.

The Comeback Kids

• The tale of both Crimson versus Lions matchups has been a third quarter comeback from Harvard.
• In the first meeting, Harvard trailed by as many as 17 before outscoring the Lions 26-13 in the third quarter to tie the contest heading into the final frame. Unfortunately, Columbia would go on to steal the contest with a last-second bucket from Perri Page.
• The second contest was the same story as Harvard struggled in the first half and found itself down 16 as late as the 5:58 mark in the third quarter. With more heroics, the Crimson outscored the Lions 24-8 in the latter half of the frame to tie the contest at 51-all heading into the fourth. This time the Crimson flipped the script, holding on to defeat Columbia, 68-64, in the season finale.
• It was the largest comeback win for Harvard since 2023 when it trailed Boston College by 19 in the first half.

Third Quarter Warriors

• The Crimson has struggled some in the early moments of games this season but consistently comes out hot in the second half.
• This year, Harvard is 13-2 when it wins the third quarter.
• Its only losses? A last-second loss to Columbia in its first meeting and a battle versus Brown when Harvard was without senior Saniyah Glenn-Bello.

The Season at a Glance

• The Crimson's season was comprised of 13 non-conference games and its annual 14-game Ivy League slate.
• Harvard played nine games in the month of November, and all took place on the road outside of its season opener against St. John's.
• The Crimson played five power conference opponents in the opening month including Michigan (Big Ten), Cal (ACC), Boston College (ACC), Alabama (SEC), and Arkansas (SEC).
• Harvard competed at two prominent tournaments in the month of November, the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational hosted by the University of California and the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championships in Nassau, The Bahamas.
• The Crimson went 10-4 in Ivy League play with its only losses coming from the three other Ivy Madness teams.
• With a win in its regular season finale, the Crimson reached double figure Ivy wins in back-to-back years for the first time in a decade.

Next Up

The winner of the second semifinal will take on the winner of Princeton versus Brown on Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.