Harvard Women’s Basketball Holds Off St. John’s, Extends Winning Streak to 7 Games

Harvard’s women’s basketball team defeated the St. John’s Red Storm 54-52 on Thursday, as star guard Harmoni Turner hit a last-second layup to extend the Crimson’s seven-game winning streak.

The Red Storm (6-1, 0-0 Big East) was undefeated heading into its Thanksgiving Day matinee against (Harvard (8-1, 0-0 Ivy) and dominated for the first half of the game, but the Crimson put up 29 points in the third quarter to silence the home crowd and leave Carnesecca Arena as the queens of Queens.

The Red Storm gave Harvard everything it could take for four quarters of basketball, erasing a nine-point deficit at the start of the final period. St. John’s Ber’Nyah Mayo nailed two consecutive free throws to tie the game at 52 with seven seconds left, leaving Harvard with one last chance to put the game away.

Turner hit the ground running, dribbling full speed down the court and getting her shot to go just before the buzzer went off, putting the finishing touches on her 27-point day and guaranteeing that Harvard would travel back home to Cambridge grateful.

Harvard’s flaming-hot start — with its only loss coming against Quinnipiac on Nov. 10 — has earned it votes in the AP Top 25 poll two out of the four weeks the poll has been released, a first for the program. With the next iteration due out on Monday, the Crimson is likely to keep earning national recognition.

After a successful four-game road trip against non-conference opponents, the Crimson will return home for its final three games of non-conference play.

Harvard is next set to face the University of Rhode Island on Dec. 7.

This article will be updated.