– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Amidst the crazy dollar amounts thrown her by the who’s who of women’s college basketball for her immense talent and a standout freshman season, Harvard superstar guard Harmoni Turner stayed committed to education, and what advantages that degree would have for her in the long run. She stayed committed to her head coach, and what they were building in the long run inside one of the premier mid-major conferences in the country over the past few years.
Now, in the short run that is Ivy Madness, Turner and the Crimson finally saw the long process off with a league tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.
One night after her tournament-record 44-point masterclass, Turner followed that up 24 hours later with 24 points as third-seeded Harvard knocked off regular-season champions Columbia 74-71 to clinch the Crimson’s first Ivy League Tournament championship and the NCAA Tournament berth that comes with it. Harvard will make its first appearance in the Big Dance since 2007.
Forward Elena Rodriguez, who joined Turner on the All-Tournament Team, led all players with nine assists to go along with 13 points and four rebounds, and Karlee White chipped in 12 points — on 6-of-7 shooting from the field — and five rebounds.
Though it wasn’t the scoring barrage against Princeton during last night’s thrilling win against the Tigers, Turner once more carried her team when it needed her most against the Lions. Holding on to a two-point lead at halftime, the Crimson scored the first five points of the third, including a Turner three-pointer to give Harvard a 49-42 advantage. Columbia fought back a number of times, tying the game on multiple occasions but weren’t able to take the lead as it played catch-up the entire second half.
The Crimson maintained the lead until the end of the game, when a blown wide-open layup by Rodriguez that would have given the Crimson an unassailable five-point lead gave Columbia one final opportunity for the tie. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball worked its way to Riley Weiss, whose three from the left wing to tie rimmed in and out, and the buzzer sounded amidst the scramble for the rebound.
For the second straight year, Columbia will have to wait to learn its fate on Selection Sunday and hope it gets an at-large bid, which it received last season in marking the first NCAA Tournament bid in school history. Their computer numbers suggest that the Lions will also be selected again this year, and there’s the possibility that Princeton could also make it as an at-large and give the Ivy League an unprecedented three teams into the NCAA Tournament.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 41 pictures in total.
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