Women's Basketball Opens Up NIT Against Iona

The Harvard women’s basketball team may have reached the end of its regular season, but seniors Christine Clark, Missy Mullins, Jasmine Evans, and Elise Gordon won’t be hanging up their jerseys just yet.

After losing to Princeton and eventual league champion Penn on consecutive nights, the chances of Harvard making a postseason run seemed to evaporate. But on Selection Monday, following the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket, the Crimson became the first Ancient Eight squad to receive an at-large bid to play in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Harvard (21-7, 11-3 Ivy) will face Iona College (26-5, 18-2 MAAC), a team it has not played for 20 years, on Thursday night at the Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. The trip marks the third consecutive season that the Crimson has advanced to the WNIT.

The Gaels shared the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship and received an automatic bid to the WNIT after failing to land a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Iona fell to Drexel in the first round of the WNIT—the eventual champions and the same team that eliminated the Crimson in the second round.

Iona’s offense is spearheaded by forward Joy Adams, whose 26 double-doubles are second-most in the country, and guard Damika Martinez, who averages 24.7 points per game.

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @Linsamnity.