Women’s Basketball Hosts Eastern Kentucky in Second Round of WBIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's basketball will look to continue its run in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament as it hosts Eastern Kentucky in the second round on Sunday, March 22. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Lavietes Pavilion and broadcast on ESPN+.

The Last Time Out

The Crimson cruised to a first-round WBIT win over Navy, 72-53, on Thursday evening.
Harvard's 21-point victory was its second largest postseason victory in program history, bested only by the Crimson's 40-point win over Towson in the opening round of the WNIT in 2023.
Karlee White paced the Crimson's offense with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. The junior also added three boards, two steals, and an assist.
In an equally as efficient outing, Abigail Wright totaled 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The junior added five boards and two assists against the Midshipmen.
Katie Krupa was the third of Harvard's double-figure scorers with her 12 points on 3-of-4 field goals, 2-of-3 from three, and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Saniyah Glenn-Bello and Nina Emance each added nine points for the Crimson. Glenn-Bello also tallied a team- and career-high of five steals.
Harvard forced 20 Navy turnovers and capitalized for 16 points off the takeaways. In total, the Crimson recorded 12 steals.

The Return to the Postseason

The Crimson is making its 18^th postseason appearance with its bid to the WBIT.
This is Harvard's first bid to the WBIT in its three-year history.
Under Carrie Moore, this is Harvard's third postseason appearance after it received the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last year and had a historic WNIT run in Moore's first season.
In 2022-23, the Crimson received a bid to the WNIT after falling to Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament championship. Harvard went on a historic run with its journey coming to an end in the Great 8. It was the first time in program history that the Crimson advanced to the third round or further of a postseason tournament.

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.

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 15.5 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. The totals rank inside the top 10 in the Ivy League.
Wright is also one of the team's leading rebounders, averaging 6.0 per game. More specifically, the junior forward attacks the offensive glass and averages 3.6 offensive rebounds per game. Her total of 107 this season ranks tied for fifth all-time in program history for a single season.
Not only is White averaging a career high but she is also doing so at an incredibly efficient rate, shooting 54.9% from the field. The percentage ranks as the best in the Ivy League and the 28^th-best in the nation.
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 17 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 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.67steals, and 1.1 blocks per game.
The senior ranks fourth 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 17 of the last 23 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 in the regular season.
The first-year has appeared in 26 games and stepped into a starting spot in the final 14 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.

Defense is the Difference

The Crimson is once again providing intense pressure on the defensive end of the ball.
The Crimson currently ranked second in the Ivy League in scoring defense (57.3) at the conclusion of the Ivy League Tournament.
Nationally, Harvard has the 22^nd-best scoring defense in the country by holding opponents to 57.2 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.

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 15-2 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-digit Ivy wins in back-to-back years for the first time in a decade.