The Crimson are working towards a great 2025 campaign after winning the Ivy League title last year.

The Harvard women’s basketball team is at .500 as they enter Ivy League play.

This year’s edition of Harvard Women’s Basketball, coming off a historic 2024-’25 season, has adopted the mantra “Nerds Can Hoop Too.” The slogan was made famous by last year’s star, Harmoni Turner, a third-round WNBA draft pick by the Las Vegas Aces who is currently playing professionally in France.

Abigail Wright and Karlee White, two of the top scorers on this year’s team, stated that the “Nerd Slogan” has stuck, even though neither considers themselves “nerdy.” Abigail Wright:

“The term ‘nerd’ is not who we are as a team. We are a group of intelligent women who enjoy playing the game of basketball, yet realize that this game is only a portion of our lives.”

Karlee White, whose study of concentration (“major” in layman’s terms) is in the field of psychology): “My teammates and I know the importance of our lives as students first and basketball players second. We keep the student-athlete concept in its proper order. This was one of the reasons that I chose to leave the warmth of Southern California to come to the cold winter weather of Massachusetts. I wasn’t aware of just how cold the winters can be in Cambridge, but the love and warmth of my teammates helped me to adjust to the tough winters.”

Abigail Wright, concentration on psychology and government: “Karlee, like all the rest of my teammates, has grown to love the ‘culture of Harvard’ and what it means when we say ‘For 4 years and forever.’ I am from Newton, Massachusetts (attended Newton North High School), and froma basketball-playing family. My mom (Ellen Devoe) and brother (Ethan Wright, currently playing professionally in Scotland) both played collegiately and passed on the love of the game to me at a very young age. By the time it came for me to attend college, I knew that Harvard was the place for me.”

Wright, a 6’1’’ junior forward averaging 15.2 points a game, and White, a 5’9” guard averaging 13 points, are playing starring roles on this year’s team, which is 6-6 heading into Ivy League competition. Both agree that last season was something very special. Karlee: “I’ll always remember how hard I cried when the buzzer sounded and I realized our team had made history by winning the first Ivy League postseason championship in school history.

Abigail: “That entire season reached its apex with that monumental achievement. I think about that every day. And I am sure that each member of that team will cherish the memory of what we accomplished while placing our names in the Harvard Sports History Books.”

There were valuable lessons learned on the Lady Crimson’s remarkable 24-5 season, which included a berth in the NCAA Women’s Postseason Tournament. “The entire season was centered on our ‘growth’ as a team. Tough lessons were learned by a 20-point defeat at the hands of Quinnipiac following our upset win over the nationally ranked Indiana, in Bloomington,” said Wright.

Teammate Karlee White concurred: “We used that embarrassing loss to gain the focus of always being prepared to play hard against every opponent. If we were struggling, we would always remind each other — ‘Remember Quinnipiac.’ Humbling losses have a way of teaching valuable lessons.”

Abigail: “One of the important things you learn as a Harvard athlete is that basketball is more than X’s and O’s. The chemistry on the court teaches you life lessons that will help you long after you’re through playing college basketball here. I have dreams of playing professionally after graduation, but my greater ambition centers on going to law school. This year’s Harvard Women’s team will have multiple new faces in multiple roles. My place is to take on a leadership role, something I believe I have grown into over the last two 2 seasons.”

Head coach Carrie Moore responds to the Nerd Slogan: “The team has had fun with it since Harmony Turner made it a fashion statement last year. More importantly, we plan to use the slogan as our mantra throughout this season. The competitive nature of this team is that we are going to battle every moment of every game. As a coach, I am looking forward to my team playing their best and living up to the high expectations that my coaching staff and I set for them.

Sport is a metaphor for life, and I am grooming my players to accept the challenges that life presents on a daily basis. I constantly send the message that ‘You give your all’ and surrender to the outcome.”

Back to the Nerd Slogan:

Karlee: “We used the ‘Nerds Can Hoop Too’ to shed the image of being soft by playing tough, hard-nosed basketball. Abigail: “We credit Harmony Turner for the slogan, and we plan to live up to what it means. Every time we step on the court to play this season, we know that as defending Ivy League champions, we are going to get our opponents’ best effort.”

The Lady Crimson will begin this year’s run for an Ivy League title on Jan. 3 against Dartmouth, followed by the “Nerds Can Hoop Too” T-shirt giveaway to all who attend the Jan. 10 matchup against Columbia at the Lavietes Pavillion.