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PROVIDENCE — Harmoni Turner and the Harvard women’s basketball team are ready to dance.

Harvard women’s basketball won the Ivy League Tournament championship for the first time in program history, as the Crimson relied on a full team effort to defeat the Columbia Lions 74-71 on Saturday and secure its first berth in the NCAA basketball tournament since 2007.

The Lions missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer while the Crimson faithful at the Pizzitola Sports Center erupted in cheers as Harvard held on for the win.

The final seconds of the game turned into a heart-stopping back-and-forth as both teams failed to convert crucial shots. But the Crimson ultimately came out on top as Carrie Moore’s squad did just enough to end a historic regular season on an exclamation note.

The matchup marked Harvard’s second appearance in the final game of the Ivy League tournament, which is also known as “Ivy Madness.” The Crimson lost to Princeton University in the 2023 championship game, which ended head coach Carrie Moore’s first season at the helm of the program.

Harvard has competed in every iteration of the competition, which features the top four teams from regular season Ivy play. Despite having the best overall record in the Ivy League, Harvard entered this year’s tournament as the No. 3 seed after getting swept in its regular season series with the Princeton Tigers and splitting its two games against the Lions.

Harvard earned its spot in the 2025 Ivy title game after Turner powered the Crimson to a 70-67 nail-biter win over the Tigers in the semifinal game Friday night. Turner delivered a historic performance as she almost single-handedly kept Harvard’s tournament hopes alive by scoring 44-points against Princeton.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

—Staff writer Rahem D. Hamid reported from Providence. He can be reached at rahem.hamid@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Miles J. Herszenhorn reported from Providence. He can be reached at miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @mherszenhorn or on Threads @mileshersz.

—Staff writer Oscar E. Mercado can be reached at oscar.mercado@thecrimson.com.