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Harvard women’s basketball (16-3, 5-2 Ivy League) bounced back from last night’s loss, soundly defeating Cornell (5-15, 1-6) 72-60 on a night that included a celebration of Black History Month. Prior to tipoff, The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College played two verses of Lift Every Voice and Sing, and all Crimson coaching staff dawned “Messengers of Peace” jackets with portraits of key civil rights leaders.
“I want to make sure that we honor those that came before us and what we are doing currently,” said Harvard head coach Carrie Moore.
Senior Harmoni Turner echoed Coach Moore’s message and added, “It’s something that’s important to me, my teammates, and coaches. We hope to be those role models that a lot of young girls that look like us can look up to.”
The team received massive contributions from the second unit, outscoring Cornell’s bench 30-21. Turner and fellow senior Elena Rodriguez led the way with 20 and 11 points, respectively.
“I’m always excited about a win in this league,” said Moore. We can be sharper and play better, but I’m glad to end this weekend with a win. I’m really excited about the way we were able to separate ourselves and win the game.”
Reinvigorated from last night, the Crimson defense held the Big Red scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. Despite Cornell’s offensive ineptitude, Harvard was not able to take much advantage, only leading 6-0 before a Cornell timeout.
After the brief reset, the Cornell offense settled and reversed roles with Harvard, taking advantage of the aggressive Crimson defense to get to the charity stripe and fuel a 10-0 run. Turner re-established Harvard’s offense, finding sophomore Karlee White for a trey and nailing a jumper in rhythm, but Harvard trailed 12-11 after one period of action.
Rodriguez quickly regained the lead for Harvard, euro stepping through traffic for a layup. Harvard began a concerted effort to establish a perimeter presence with Turner and first-year Lydia Chatira knocking down triples. Following the initial success, the Crimson’s shot stopped falling, opening the door for the Big Red to take the lead 22-19.
Harvard’s second unit, led by junior captain Katie Krupa, stepped up and closed the quarter on a 13-3 run including a buzzer beater three-pointer to put the Crimson in front 32-25 heading into halftime.
“I thought Katie gave us a great lift,” said Moore. “What KK was able to do was really solid. Lydia was really aggressive on the glass, Saniyah hit a couple shots, Karlee came in and gave us some energy and so did Abigail. Any time we can go deeper in our bench, I’m really excited about that.”
The teams continued to battle and trade blows but the Big Red was unable to make any inroads. Turner crashed the glass, swinging the rock to an open Glenn-Bello for a triple that restored Harvard’s lead to 39-32. After another stop that turned into a Krupa jumper, Cornell signaled for a timeout.
The timeout did little to help the Big Red who went scoreless over the next two minutes, allowing Harvard to strengthen its advantage to 45-32. Finally, Cornell broke the scoring drought but Glenn-Bello and sophomore Abigail Wright continued to lock down the paint. The Big Red got within single digits, but triples from Glenn-Bello and Turner – the latter being a buzzer beater to end the quarter – put the Crimson on top 51-37 to end the third.
Wright struck first for the Crimson, knocking down a jump hook through contact for a three-point play. Rodriguez scored twice in the paint and following a Turner jumper, Harvard reached its largest lead of the game 60-40, prompting a Cornell timeout.
Cornell found more success on offense via Parker-Hall attacking the paint, but consecutive triples from Turner extended Harvard’s lead 66-45. From this point, Moore rested her starters and Big Red took advantage of Harvard’s second and third units, steadily trimming the lead to 67-53.
Looking to stifle any comeback attempt, Moore subbed Glenn-Bello and Rodriguez back into the game. The decision immediately paid dividends as Cornell could not advance the ball past half court in time, turning it over. Chatira and Turner joined the other starters on the floor, closing the game out as Harvard topped Cornell 72-60.
Harvard will remain home next Saturday for its final contest of a four game home stretch, taking on Dartmouth at 4:00PM in Harvard’s Pride Game.
—Staff writer Oscar E. Mercado can be reached at oscar.mercado@thecrimson.com.
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