Harvard women's basketball accomplishes feat not seen since 2007
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In her first three seasons playing for the Harvard women’s basketball team, program great Harmoni Turner lost to Princeton twice and Columbia once in the Ivy League Tournament. But in her final year with the Crimson, the conference’s top player and her teammates beat them both to clinch an automatic bid in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Less than 24 hours after torching the Tigers for 44 points in a narrow Ivy League semifinals win, Turner posted 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting with four assists and three steals to lead Harvard past Columbia in the tourney championship game. The 74-71 victory sends the women’s squad to the Big Dance for the first time since 2007, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
The lady Crimson had to walk the most grueling path possible to end this dry spell, outlasting the league’s top two powers in consecutive days. And this long-awaited moment is all the sweeter because of that adversity.
Cambridge, Massachusetts is surely celebrating this monumental feat, but non-Harvard fans should be intrigued by this unexpected development as well. One of the most underrated players in the country will now be part of March Madness. Regardless of rooting interests, that should be good news for the conference and sport.
Turner, Harvard women’s basketball can finally put on their dancing shoes
Harmoni Turner averages 22.4 points, which ranks ninth in the country, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.8 steals. Perhaps most importantly, the Ivy League Player of the Year has significantly raised her level of efficiency, shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from 3-point range this season. During the title-clinching win, she became just the third Harvard women’s basketball player to score 2,000 career points.
Her Crimson legacy is solidified, but now the rest of the NCAA will get to see this talent perform on a big stage. Though, this is not just a one-woman squad. Elena Rodriguez was one assist shy of a double-double, Abigail Wright totaled a team-high seven rebounds and Karlee White scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench.
The newly crowned Ivy League Tournament champions, led by head coach Carrie Moore, are proving to be a tough out in March. No matter what happens from hereon out, history has been made.
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