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On Sunday afternoon, the Harvard women’s basketball team failed to recover from a dominating first quarter by No. 13 Michigan (2-0), falling 84-55 in Michigan’s Crisler Center. The defeat moves the Crimson to 1-1 on the season after its opening win against St. John’s.
This matchup marked a meaningful return for Harvard’s Head Coach Carrie Moore. Before taking over the Crimson program, Moore was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Michigan in the 2021-22 season. That year, the Wolverines were a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it to the Elite Eight, which was the deepest tournament run in the history of the program.
Junior guard Abigail Wright was the Crimson’s top scorer with 17 points and nine rebounds, as she kept up her strong start to the season. Junior forward Karlee White chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds, scoring 12 of her points in the second half. Freshman guard Olivia Jones was a nice spark off the bench with 11 points.
After Harmoni Turner ’25 graduated last spring, the Crimson team is undergoing a major adjustment. Turner, a generational talent for the Crimson squad, led Harvard to an Ivy League Championship title and a March Madness appearance last season, before being drafted by the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces— though she has since been waived.
The Crimson is still figuring out how to remain a successful program despite Turner’s absence. The defending Ivy League champions are currently ranked third in the league this year. However, as the team’s younger players become more comfortable on the court, it strives for more wins and to lead the league again.
The game started tight, with both teams 7-7 at the midway point of the first quarter. Michigan’s offense took it from there. The Wolverines ended the period on a 17-0 run, sparked by an early scoring surge from sophomore forward Olivia Olson and fast break baskets from freshman guard Syla Swords. Harvard missed its last nine shots of the quarter and turned the ball over 10 times, trailing by 24-8 after one period.
After its hot first-quarter start, Michigan never looked back. The Wolverines finished 10-for-15 from the field in the first quarter and continued to shoot well after that, ending with a 55.4% from the floor for the game. Harvard, on the other hand, went 32.7% overall and just 15.8% from three-point range. The Crimson will look to improve on its shooting early in the season before entering Ivy League play.
The Crimson steadied in the second quarter, aided by contributions from Wright and senior guard Gabby Anderson, who helped to slow Michigan’s momentum. Jones added key baskets off the bench, but the Wolverines’ size and interior presence remained dominant. Michigan shot 58% in the first half to take a 40-24 lead into the halftime break.
Harvard’s offense showed improvement in the third quarter, as White attacked the paint and converted nine of 11 free throws for the game. However, this did not make a big dent in the score deficit, as Michigan kept the lead, thanks to its well-balanced offensive performance. Olson scored 18 points, Holloway 17, and Swords tallied 14. The Wolverines boasted a 20-point advantage at the end of the third quarter, which ended with a score of 61-41.
Michigan’s deep roster controlled the pace in the fourth. Ten different Wolverines scored as the bench helped to extend the lead to nearly 30 points. Harvard went 2-for-10 from the field in the final frame and committed seven more turnovers, finishing with 26 for the game compared to Michigan’s 20.
Despite the loss, Wright’s energy on both ends of the floor was a major factor, as she led Harvard’s rebounding and initiated offense consistently against one of the best defenses in the country.
Additionally, White’s instrumental shooting, especially from the free-throw line, in the second half, showed her increasingly prominent scoring role in the Crimson. Jones’s 11-point total gave a glimpse of the rookie guard’s bright potential.
The loss is the first blemish on Harvard’s record in the 2025-26 season, posing as an early test against a top-ranked opponent for the young team. Harvard will be eager to recover from this loss quickly as the team travels next to the University of Massachusetts (2-0) in Amherst, Mass., for its second road game of the year on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
