If there’s any more conference realignment on the horizon, the Harvard women may want to consider heading over to the Big Ten. For the second time this year, the Crimson traveled to the Midwest and came away with a victory.
While Harvard (6-1) needed overtime to defeat then-No. 25 Indiana, 72-68, on Nov. 7, it easily handled Northwestern (1-3), 70-65, on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson finished the opening frame up three, then extended their lead to nine, 26-17, four minutes into the second quarter.
After the Wildcats cut the deficit to four with 3:40 to go in the half, Harvard went on a 10-0 run to open up a 14-point advantage and ended the half up 42-26.
The run was led by senior guard Harmoni Turner, who nailed a three-pointer and got an old-fashioned three off a layup. Prior to those two buckets, the league’s leading scorer had missed her first seven attempts on the day.
Over the first 20 minutes, Harvard separated themselves from Northwestern by hitting 43% (6-for-14) of its attempts from deep, dominating the glass (+11/+37%) to take 13 more shots and converting 13 points off of 10 turnovers.
An 8-0 run by the Wildcats made it a 48-40 contest halfway through quarter number three, but a personal 7-0 run by senior forward Elena Rodriguez, featuring a fastbreak three-pointer, upped the Crimson’s lead back to 15 and that was the margin heading into the final frame.
Three triples, two by junior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello and one from junior forward Katie Krupa, by the five-minute mark stretched the lead to 67-46 and put the game completely out of reach for Northwestern.
The Crimson didn’t shoot well from the field in the second half, hitting only 38% (5-for-13) from two and 27% (4-for-15) from three, but they were a strong 85% (11-for-13) from the line.
They were also solid on the defensive side in the final 20 minutes, limiting the Wildcats to 13% (1-for-9) from beyond the arc, 39% (7-for-39) from inside and grabbing nine more rebounds.
The Crimson also held Northwestern’s leading scorer, former Brown All-Ivy guard Kyla Jones, to four points for the afternoon, 12 below her season average.
Rodriguez finished the day with a game-high 17 points on 64% (7-for-11) shooting and Glenn-Bello added 11 on a 50% (3-for-6) field-goal effort.
Turner, meanwhile, ended with season lows in points, eight, and field goal percentage, 14% (2-for-14). On the positive side, she did dish a game-high six assists.
Junior guard Gabby Anderson led the way on the glass, capturing six on the offensive side and a career-high 13 in all. She also scored 11 points for her first-ever double-double.
Harvard has a quick turnaround for its next game, a Sunday afternoon battle against Illinois State (2-1), which beat Northwestern by four on Nov. 6.
Following this weekend’s games, the Crimson have another road back-to-back, taking on Stony Brook and St. John’s this Wednesday and Thursday.
Fortunately for coach Carrie Moore, Saturday’s blowout victory over the Wildcats allowed her to rest key rotation players and keep them fresh for the next three games.