Harvard Women’s Basketball Returns to NCAA Tournament After 18 Years

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Harvard University’s women’s basketball team clinched its first NCAA tournament appearance in 18 years, defeating Columbia 74-71 in the Ivy League tournament championship on Saturday.

Harmoni Turner led the Crimson with 24 points, adding to her record-breaking 44-point semifinal performance against Princeton. With this win, Harvard earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, marking the first time the school has secured the Ivy League tournament title since its inception.

“Today means everything. This is everything that I’ve worked for,” said Harvard head coach Carrie Moore, who took the reins three years ago. “It’s an incredible feeling to finally get to the top of the hill and be champions.”

The intense final moments of the game saw Harvard hold a 74-71 lead with 17.6 seconds remaining. Columbia’s attempt to even the score fell short when Riley Weiss, who finished with 21 points, missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.

Moore and her players had prepared for such crucial moments all season, and her faith in their training shone through. “I didn’t really trust it in the moment,” Moore admitted. “But I was just hopeful that the basketball gods would be on my side.”

Columbia, which finished the regular season with a historic title, was unable to secure victory despite a strong run in previous years. This defeat continued their pattern of falling short in the championship game, having lost three out of the last four tournament finals.

The first half was competitive, with Harvard leading 34-26 at one point before Columbia narrowed the gap to 44-42 at halftime. Turner’s halftime stats included 14 points, as she also became the third player in Harvard history to reach 2,000 career points.

Elena Rodriguez complemented Turner’s effort by contributing 13 points, along with nine assists, while ensuring a strong defensive performance that limited the Lions to below 40% shooting from the field.

“We always say the best defensive team wins the championship, and this was proof of it,” Rodriguez noted after the game.

This victory is particularly sweet for Turner, who expressed her emotional connection to the team’s success. “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry, but I ended up crying like a baby,” she said. “When you work so hard for something over the years, it feels incredible when it finally happens.”

Harvard will learn its NCAA tournament seeding and opponent during the selection show scheduled for Sunday. The last time the team appeared in the tournament was in 2007, where they made headlines with a significant upset over Stanford in 1998.

As the Crimson celebrates this monumental achievement, they remain grounded and focused on upcoming challenges and the opportunity to showcase their skills on a national stage.