Women’s Basketball Rebounds with Resounding Victory over Brown

Harvard women’s basketball (13-2, 2-1 Ivy) returned to the win column with a commanding 83-53 victory over Brown (7-9, 1-2 Ivy) at Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday, extending the Crimson’s dominance over the Bears to 18 straight games.

With the win, Harvard is in excellent position for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament despite losing to rival Princeton last week and the team moves to third place in the conference.

Senior guard Harmoni Turner was unstoppable, leading the way with a sensational 33 point performance in Harvard’s rout. Junior captain Katie Krupa contributed 13 points off the bench and junior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello narrowly missed out on a double-double, notching 9 points and 9 rebounds in the contest.

Harvard head coach Carrie Moore praised Turner’s performance in a post-game interview with ESPN+.

“She’s resilient and used to persevering,” Moore said. “Back is against the wall and we needed to respond. I thought she did that. I’m not worried about her or this team responding.”

“I want to be consistent every night,” she added.

Glenn-Bello provided a crucial spark for Harvard’s sluggish offense early on, securing offensive rebounds on the first two possessions and converting them into second-chance points. As the offense found its rhythm, Turner took control, using nifty screens from senior forward Elena Rodriguez to sink three treys from the left wing as she showed off for the raucous Lavietes crowd.

Turner delivered a phenomenal first quarter, single-handedly matching Brown’s total scoring output of 13 points. The Bears stumbled to close the quarter, committing four turnovers in the final minute. The Crimson cashed in on the Bears’ turnovers, building a commanding 26-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Turner said it was “very important” for the team to set the tone early.

“Coach has reiterated to us about setting the tone on the defensive end,” she said. “We did that to start the game and now we have to work on doing it consistently throughout the entirety of the game.”

The Turner takeover carried over to the second quarter, opening the period by draining two deep three-pointers that forced Brown to call timeout. The Crimson’s barrage from beyond the arc persisted, with first-year Lydia Chatira and Krupa chipping in to stretch Harvard’s lead to 40-19.

Brown briefly found success from beyond the arc, knocking down three triples, but struggled to keep pace with Harvard’s scorching offense. The Bears managed a horrid 3-for-14 shooting from the field in the period. Turner nearly outscored Brown on her own, 23-to-24, as her masterful first-half performance propelled Harvard to a dominant 48-24 halftime lead.

“We’ve been working all week offensively following the 50 point output last week,” said Moore, referring to the game against Princeton. “It's nice to see we’ve matched that in one half. The ball has to move, Harm has to play this well but our other guys have to step up and play well too.”

Harvard picked up right where it left off in the second half, scoring on its first three possessions via a Glenn-Bello triple, sophomore Karlee White converting a layup, and another trey by Chatira. Brown quickly called timeout, in an attempt to stall Harvard’s momentum, but the stoppage seemed to ice both teams, as neither could find the basket for the next two minutes.

Krupa finally broke the drought with a layup, while Brown relied heavily on three-point shooting in a desperate effort to chip away at the insurmountable deficit. The Bears managed to keep pace beyond the arc, matching Harvard’s three triples in the period. However, despite Harvard’s starters mostly resting this period, the Crimson outscored the Bears 18-15 in the period, pushing its lead to 66-39 heading into the final quarter.

The final quarter of action resembled a scrimmage with Turner attempting flashy moves that dazzled the Harvard crowd. Turner scored Harvard’s first six points and assisted a Krupa jumper before Moore pulled the plug on her day with four minutes remaining.

The Crimson second unit continued to display the all-out effort the team is known for, playing at 110%, full court pressing, and diving for loose balls. Freshman Nina Emnace knocked down Harvard’s final basket in the 83-53 romp, fittingly it was Harvard’s 14th triple of the night.

As the Crimson hopes to earn its spot in the March Madness tournament, it will have a short turnaround.The team will travel to Philadelphia, PA to square off against the Penn Quakers this Monday at 2:00 PM EST.

—Staff writer Oscar E. Mercado can be reached at oscar.mercado@thecrimson.com.