For the first time in the Carrie Moore era, the Harvard women defeated a Top 25 team, beating No. 25 Indiana, 72-68, in overtime on Thursday night.
“I’m just so happy for them,” the head coach told the BIG+ Network immediately after the buzzer ended and she was mobbed by her jubilant team. “When I got here, there was a lot of work that needed to be done, and these guys bought in and invested.”
In front of 10,287 raucous fans at Assembly Hall, the Crimson (2-0) jumped out to a 12-2 lead on the strength of eight points from senior forward Elena Rodriguez and finished the opening frame with a 21-7 advantage.
With three minutes left in the second quarter, Harvard was still in control, 32-19, when Indiana (1-1) finally went on a roll.
The Hoosiers used an 11-0 run to close out the half and make it a one-possession game, 32-30.
Over the opening 20 minutes, the Crimson were led by Rodriguez and senior guard Harmoni Turner, who scored 13 and 10 points, respectively. Defensively, the team held Indiana to 38% shooting from the field and one three-pointer. They also built upon their 34 turnovers against UMass by using full court pressure to rattle one of the top teams in the Big Ten into 13 turnovers.
After Indiana took their first lead of the evening, 34-32, on consecutive jumpers from junior forward Lilly Meister, Harvard went on a 11-2 run that featured three straight triples from three different players.
The Crimson were still on top, 45-40, when the Hoosiers scored the next six points to take a one-point lead with a minute to go in the third quarter. On the next possession, sophomore guard Karlee White nailed a triple from the left elbow to put Harvard up 48-46 heading into the last frame.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the lead changing hands seven times.
The physical game took its toll, with Harvard racking up fouls and Indiana constantly finding themselves on the free throw line. After the Hoosiers went on a 9-2 run, scoring all of their points at the charity stripe, the hosts were ahead 62-58 with 2:10 to go in regulation.
Turner put up a fastbreak jumper at the 1:10 mark to cut the deficit to two with just over a minute on the clock.
Meister made one of two free throws on the next trip up the court, making it a 63-60 game.
Coming out of a timeout, Turner got the ball to Alayna Rocco on the left elbow. The first year guard quickly launched a triple over two defenders to knot the game at 63 with 19 seconds remaining.
Indiana worked the clock down to single digits to take a game-winning shot, but graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil’s layup hit the underside of the rim. Senior forward Mona Zaric grabbed the rebound, and the team called a timeout with one second to go, giving Harvard one last chance to win the game in regulation.
After inbounding the ball at midcourt, junior forward Katie Krupa’s fade away jumper from the foul line was way off and the teams headed to overtime.
In the extra session, Turner used an off balanced jumper from the left side and a fastbreak layup to put the Crimson up 67-63.
Meister and Moore-McNeil combined to go three-for-four from the free throw line to make it a one-point game, 67-66, at the 1:40 mark.
On the next trip up the court, Turner found Zaric at the free throw line, and she swished a jumper to make it a three-point game.
Meister followed with a short jumper to get the Hoosiers back to within one.
With 17 seconds remaining, junior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello went to the line and made one-of-two free throws to give Harvard a 70-68 lead.
The Hoosiers again worked the clock down to single digits and sophomore guard Julianna LaMendola went up for a short floater. Her shot missed the mark and fell to Meister. Immediately afterwards, White grabbed the ball out of Meister’s hands and the Crimson called timeout.
Zoric was fouled on the inbounds, and the Indiana transfer sank both free throws to put the game away for good.
Like the opening night against UMass, the defense was strong for the Crimson.
On a night where Indiana went to the free throw line 38 times (making 31 of those attempts), Harvard held the Hoosiers to 35% from the field, including 17% (3-for-18) from beyond the arc. The Crimson also had 14 steals and forced 27 turnovers, leading to 32 points.
The turnovers were the most for Indiana since 2018.
“First of all, that’s a really, really, really, really good Harvard team, very well coached,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said after the game. “They played hard. We got them into foul trouble. They wouldn’t go away. So that is a very tough, gritty group that came in here and kind of punched us in the in the mouth that first quarter.”
Turner was the star of the show, putting up a game-high 24 points on 50% (10-for-17) shooting. The first team All-Ivy guard also added six steals, four assists and four rebounds.
Plagued by foul trouble and picking up her fifth in the fourth quarter, Rodriguez only added two points over the last three stanzas, finishing with 15 on the night. Fortunately, Zaric helped out with eight points, including four in the overtime session.
In addition, Rocco added a career-high nine points on three triples.
Playing with a frenetic pace from the opening tip-off, Harvard relied on Moore’s deepest roster since she took over in 2022-23, and she knows her team will have to continue relying on that depth as the long season progresses.
“That’s what’s so awesome about the culmination of this game in OT. Everybody played a part,” the victorious coach told the B1G+ Network. “We’re going to need every single one of our players to keep getting wins like this.”
Harvard, which defeated a ranked team for the first time in 25 years, will travel to Quinnipiac for a Sunday 2 p.m. matchup on ESPN+.