CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women’s basketball picked up their third straight win tonight with a 21-point victory over University of Massachusetts.  With four double-digit scorers including 23 and 22-point performances from Lola Mullaney and Harmoni Turner, the Crimson pulled away from the Minutewomen, 78-57. 

How it Happened

The Crimson started hot and pulled away from UMass quickly, scoring the first eight points of the contest.  Katie Krupa started her scoring early, dropping seven of the team’s first 10 points.  With the Crimson up 23-8 and Turner already with seven points, the junior guard connected on a floater to surpass her 1,000th-career point.  Harvard ultimately closed out the quarter with a 20-point lead, having held the Minutewomen to single digit scoring. 
 
Despite more buckets falling for UMass in the second quarter, the Crimson continued to hold its lead going into half up 39-26.  The Crimson defense forced 13 turnovers in the first half alone and created 19 points off of UMass’ losses.  Going into the locker room Turner and Mullaney led all scores with 11 points each. 
 
Coming out of the locker room the Crimson kept distance from UMass in the first few minutes by striking first and following each of the Minutewomen’s made shots with buckets on the other end.  Despite an offensive surge by UMass in the final five minutes of the third frame and the Crimson lead cut to as little as 7, Harvard was able to head into the fourth with a double digit lead, 53-43. 
 
To close out the contest the Crimson locked down in the fourth quarter, going on a 8-2 run in the first two and a half minutes.  Ultimately, Harvard put the game to rest with a 15-0 run in the late minutes of the fourth, leaving the Mullins Center with a 78-57 victory. 

Harvard Highlights

• For the third time this season the Crimson had at least four players reach double digit points.
•  Mullaney led all scores with 23 points on eight of 15 shooting.  The senior tied a career high with seven made three-pointers, a mark that she has hit twice including the last time these two teams faced.  Mullaney also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists, and had two steals. 
• Turner followed closely behind, adding 22 points.  The junior reached her career milestone of 1,000 points on a floater in the lane in the latter half of the first quarter.  Turner also secured five boards and dished out four assists.  With three steals in the contest, Turner continues to move up on the all-time career steals list, now in the No. 9 spot with 150 career takeaways. 
• Elena Rodriguez and Abigail Wright rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Crimson contributing 12 and 10 points, respectively. 
• Along with her 12 points, Rodriguez had six rebounds, a team leading five assists, a block, and two steals. 
• Wright continues her early season success following her recent Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor this past Monday. 
• Saniyah Glenn-Bello led the team in rebounds by pulling down ten with five coming on each side of the ball.
• As a team, the Crimson shot 46.6% from the field and 45.8% from three.  Harvard knocked down 11 triples for the second straight game. 
• Harvard once again won the rebounding battle, grabbing 38 to the Minutewomen’s 29. 

Next Up

Harvard will travel to Waco, Texas for a ranked battle against No. 21 Baylor on Sunday, November 19 at 2:00 p.m.  The contest will serve as a homecoming for junior guard Harmoni Turner who hails from Mansfield, Texas.