With two back-to-back road games in a six-day span, Harvard women’s basketball’s schedule didn’t do the team any favors.
It turned out not to matter, as the Crimson fought off a tenacious Stony Brook team on Wednesday afternoon and followed it up with a buzzer-beating victory at previously undefeated St. John’s less than 24 hours later.
As they headed back to Massachusetts, Carrie Moore’s squad, which entered the games at No. 11 in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25, is 9-1 on the season and has a seven-game winning streak.
Harvard (8-1) 60 at Stony Brook (3-3) 51
The Seawolves jumped out to an 18-6 lead over the first seven minutes and finished the opening quarter up 16-11.
Stony Brook shot 64% in the frame and held a 12-6 advantage on the glass. While senior forward Elena Rodriguez, junior guard Gabby Anderson and sophomore forward/guard Abigail Wright combined for all of the Crimson’s 11 points and 5-for-8 shooting, the rest of the team went 0-for-10.
The tables turned in the second quarter, as Harvard outscored the Seawolves 22-9 to go into the locker room up 33-25.
Despite Stony Brook grabbing seven more rebounds, the Crimson held their hosts to 29% shooting from the field and no triples. Meanwhile, Harvard shot 47% (4-for-9) from deep and 50% (4-for-8) from inside the arc.
With each team notching 11 points in the third quarter, the Crimson were still up eight, 44-36, with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Over the first four minutes of the last quarter, the Seawolves used a 12-0 run to take a 48-44 lead.
At that point, the Harvard defense locked in and prevented Stony Brook from hitting any more field goals on the afternoon.
Following back-to-back layups by Wright to tie the game at 48, the Seawolves went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to reclaim the slim lead.
The Crimson’s senior guard Harmoni Turner sank two free throws and junior forward Katie Krupa hit a layup to give the visitors a 52-49 lead with 2:38 on the clock.
With the same score and over a minute left in regulation, sophomore guard Karlee White positioned herself near her Harvard bench and nailed a dagger three-pointer.
The final minute saw both teams head to the free throw line with Harvard hitting five of their six attempts and Stony Brook going 2-for-2 to finish the scoring.
Harvard again struggled from the field in the final stanza, shooting 40% (4-for-10) from the inside and 33% (1-for-3) from the outside, but its late-game defense was the decisive factor.
The Crimson allowed the Seawolves to hit five of their first six shots to take the lead but held their hosts to a 0-for-10 effort over the last six minutes.
Rodriguez led the way for the winners, totaling 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. While Turner, who entered the day as the Ivy League’s leading scorer, was limited to six points on 7% (1-for-14) from the field, she had six assists, four rebounds, three steals and a game-high +17 in point differential.
Harvard (9-1) 54 at St. John’s (6-1) 52
At the end of Wednesday’s contest at Stony Brook, Moore told SNY that she wasn’t able to go deeper to her bench as she had hoped. That lack of rest showed in the early parts of the Thanksgiving matinee at Carnesecca Arena, as the Crimson scored only four points in the opening quarter and eight in the second.
While Harvard only managed to make 13% (2-for-15) of its first-half field-goal attempts, including a 0-for-6 showing from three, it held St. John’s to 23 points on 27% (3-for-11) shooting.
Things were different when the Crimson came out of the locker room.
In the opening three and a half minutes of the second half, Harvard went on a 17-2 run, featuring three consecutive three-pointers from Turner and an old-fashioned three-point play from Rodriguez, to take a 29-23 lead.
After the Red Storm reclaimed a one-point lead, 30-29 at the media break, the Crimson finished the quarter on a 14-4 run to make it 43-34 heading into the final frame.
With 6:36 left in regulation and Harvard holding a 47-39 advantage, St. John’s methodically chipped away at the deficit.
Over the next 6:12 hosts went on a 11-4 run, h0lding the Crimson to 1-for-6 shooting and no three-pointers, to make it a 51-50 game.
Junior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello was sent to the charity stripe, making one of two, to increase Harvard’s lead to two with 12. On the next possessions, the Red Storm were sent to the line and sank both free throws to tie the game at 52.
With seven seconds on the clock, Turner got the inbounds pass from Rodriguez close to the baseline and raced for the basket. While she got knocked to the ground as she went to the hoop, her game-winning layup made it in with only 0.6 left on the clock.
In the last 20 minutes, Harvard was stronger on the offensive side, hitting 53% (10-for-19) from two and 50% (4-for-8) from three. The Crimson did allow the Red Storm to make 60% (9-for-15) from the inside during that time, but the 13% (1-for-8) result from three proved to be a key difference.
Turner’s strength was on the defensive side on Wednesday, but Thursday was an all-around day for the first-team All-Ivy guard. The Mansfield, Texas native finished the day with a game-high 27 points on 45% (10-for-22) shooting, six rebounds and four steals.
Rodriguez added 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
After playing a flurry of games to close out November, Moore’s team can finally get some rest before battling Rhode Island at Lavietes Pavilion on Sun., Dec. 7.