ORONO – Harvard University senior guard Harmoni Turner set a school record with 41 points in the Crimson’s last game, a 78-70 win over Boston College.
And the talented Mansfield, Texas native put on a scintillating show at the expense of the University of Maine women’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the Memorial Gym.
She poured in a game-high 38 points, including 25 in the first half, as the Crimson cruised to an easy 83-41 victory over the turnover-plagued Black Bears.
Harvard improved to 4-1 including a 72-68 victory at Big Ten Indiana, which was ranked 25th in the country at the time.
UMaine is now 2-2.
The Black Bears turned the ball over 26 times leading to a 34-2 Harvard advantage in points off turnovers.
The 5-foot-10 Turner was named to the Becky Hammon 2025 Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
Turner shot 12-for-24 from the floor including 3-for-8 beyond the 3-point arc. She also had a game-high six steals to go with three rebounds and two assists.
She hit all 11 of her free throw a
“It was similar to the last game, I just let the game come to me,” said Turner. “I let my defense flow into my offense and it resulted into that, which is nice.”
The Black Bears got off to an encouraging 7-2 start but it was all downhill the rest of the way as the Crimson outscored the Black Bears 50-10 over the remainder of the first half to sew up the win.
The Black Bears were simply no match for the veteran Crimson, who returned 10 players including four of its top five scorers off last year’s 16-12 team.
Harvard’s smothering pressure defense, including a full-court press from time to time, forced 14 first-half turnovers that the Crimson turned into 22 points.
“Defense is something we definitely emphasize first. And then we get into offense and allow that to flow on both ends of the court,” said Turner.
UMaine head coach Amy Vachon didn’t mince words after the game.
“First, I want to apologize to everyone who came to this game and spent money to watch us. That was not acceptable for us by any means. Harvard is very good. Turner is exceptional. We know that. We weren’t fair to them showing up and not giving them a game.
“We have to figure it out. I do apologize to our fans. We will get better,” she added.
Abigail Wright had nine points for Harvard along with three rebounds and Karlee White contributed eight points and two rebounds.
Harvard took control of the game by rattling off a 21-0 run to turn that 7-2 deficit into a 23-7 lead.
Turner had 10 of the 21 points.
