The Harvard women’s basketball team celebrates after winning the women’s Ivy League Tournament championship game over top seed Columbia at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I. Saturday. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)
The question entering Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament championship game between No. 3 Harvard and No. 1 Columbia was, “What can Harmoni Turner do for an encore?”
The answer: Win a championship.
The senior guard who exploded for a record-setting 44 points against Princeton in Friday night’s semifinal delivered a game-high 24 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Harvard past Columbia, 74-71, for the Crimson’s first Ivy League Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It’s Harvard’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007.
Columbia junior forward Susie Rafiu paced the victorious Lions with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance on Friday evening. (Rob Browne | Ivy Hoops Online)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.
“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”
With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.
For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.
“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”
The Ivy League announced its major women’s awards Tuesday, but we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2024-25 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the release of the Ivy League’s awards:
Editor’s note: Here are Steve Silverman’s reactions to Ivy League All-Ivy awards for players and coaches for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season announced Tuesday. Ivy Hoops Online’s 2024-25 Men’s and Women’s All-Ivy Awards are soon to come.:
Fadima Tall knocked down a career-high 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting along with 10 rebounds and four steals Saturday as Princeton women’s basketball warmed up for the Ivy League Tournament with a 67-53 win at Penn.
Penn’s loss, combined with Brown’s win, means that we won’t know which team will be the fourth entrant for Ivy Madness at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center till the NCAA releases its updated NET rankings to determine the tiebreaker. As the winner of the regular-season conference title, Columbia will play Penn or Brown in the tournament’s first round Friday, and Princeton will face Harvard; the championship game comes Saturday.Penn’s NET ranking was No. 162 as of Saturday night – 22 slots ahead of Brown at No. 184.
On Senior Night at Harvard, the seniors came through in a dominant second half Saturday to sail past the Penn women’s basketball team, 62-44.
Of course, it helps when your seniors include league-leading scorer Harmoni Turner and forward Elena Rodriguez. With two points from reserve forward Mona Zaric, the senior class came up just one point short of Penn’s total. Turner let loose for a double-double: 24 points from all over the court and 11 rebounds; Rodriguez had 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.
With both sides playing to preserve a chance at a spot in Ivy Madness, the Penn women’s basketball team overcame a resurgent Cornell on Saturday in West Philly, 68-63.
“We always like to make things interesting,” Penn senior Stina Almqvist told ESPN+ after her 25 points led the Quakers to the win. “We know we have our backs against the wall. We really want to make the tournament.”
Stina Almqvist had a triple big day Saturday: game highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds against Brown, a victory to keep Penn’s postseason hopes alive, and elevation to the elite club of Quakers with 1,000-point careers.
The 6-foot-1 senior became the 26th Penn woman to reach the milestone; her father and sister were at the Palestra for the event, visiting from Sweden. “My sister said, ‘You better get 1,000 while I’m here,’ and I did it for her,” Almqvist told ESPN+ afterward.
In a game it had to win, the Penn’s women’s basketball team missed shot after shot, giving up a lead and then just keeping even with lowly Yale.
And then the third quarter ended and the fun started at the Palestra, as the Quakers blew past the Bulldogs with 27 fourth-quarter points to take the win, 71-59, Friday night. That sets up a Saturday afternoon showdown with Brown as a key game for Penn to stay relevant in the run for the Ivy League Tournament.
