Harvard Women’s Basketball Dominates Dartmouth, Improves to 17-3

Harvard women’s basketball (17-3, 6-2 Ivy League) concluded its four game home stand with a resounding 66-31 victory over Dartmouth (8-13, 2-6). Three Crimson players tallied double digits in scoring with senior tandem Harmoni Turner and Elena Rodriguez scoring 21 and 10 points respectively, and junior Saniyah Glenn-Bello dishing in 11 points.

“Just a really good response,” said Harvard head coach Carrie Moore. “I thought we really got after it, less about Xs and Os, and more about culture – how we act and interact with one another. I felt defensively and offensively we were more connected from start to finish. I’m really proud of them for that response.”

The Crimson dominated from the opening tip, using its patented full court press to full effect, forcing turnovers and converting them into points on the other end. After five minutes of action, Harvard fielded an astonishing 16-0 lead with Turner and Rodriguez contributing 12 points.

Following a strategic timeout by Big Green, the Crimson’s offense slowed down and Dartmouth found its first points of the contest courtesy of a jumper from the charity stripe. Despite the reset, Harvard maintained an 18-5 advantage after the first quarter.

First-year Lydia Chatira immediately drained a corner three to restore Harvard’s 16 point lead at the start of the second quarter. Big Green issued a response from the top of the key, but the Crimson fired off a 10-2 run, prompting a Dartmouth timeout.

This time, the rest resulted in the Big Green committing back-to-back turnovers. Turner capitalized on the takeaways, draining a floater and swishing a three pointer, bringing her scoring total to 15 points. The Crimson continued to move the ball well, finding junior Saniyah Glenn-Bello for another triple as Harvard sported a 39-14 halftime lead.

“We had nine turnovers at halftime,” recalled Moore. “Way too many against this team. I think a lot of that was just on us trying to throw cross court passes or force the issue with a dump down. What we did in transition defensively was really solid, I felt our defense really helped us when we needed to get stops to combat the turnovers.”

As the second half began, the Crimson continued to dominate defensively, allowing just five points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. Turner got her first points of the second half with a crossover jumper from the free throw line, bringing Harvard’s lead to 30.

Harvard started the fourth quarter strong with an immediate layup by Rodriguez followed by a ten-second backcourt violation forced by the Crimson’s suffocating full court press. With six minutes left, scoring began to ramp up on both sides, as sophomore Karlee White’s three pointer was immediately responded to with a Dartmouth triple.

Despite its forty point lead, the Crimson’s defense remained relentless in the final minutes, pressuring the Big Green to hoist numerous hail mary three pointers to avoid a shot-clock violation. The Crimson finished its onslaught with a final score of 66-31.

Harvard returns to the road, traveling to New York for matchups against Cornell on Valentines Day and Columbia, undefeated in the Ivy League the following Sunday. The latter matchup will be pivotal for Harvard to claw back in the conference, in which the team currently stands in third place.

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

—Staff writer Sudhish M. Swain can be reached at sudhish.swain@thecrimson.com.