Harvard knocks off No. 14 Cal women 85-79 behind Benzan's 19

Dec 31, 2018, 12:36 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Katie Benzan scored 19 points and Sydney Skinner made four free throws in the last 19.5 seconds as Harvard outscored No. 14 California 8-1 in the final 45 seconds to pull out an 85-79 win on Sunday.

There were 12 ties and 12 lead changes but the Crimson led most of the way. It is the second time Harvard beat a ranked Pac-12 team on its home court -- in 1998 the Crimson beat top-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Tournament as a 16-seed.

Kianna Smith made a layup to put the Golden Bears up 78-77 but Jeannie Boehm quickly answered with a jumper. Benzan made two free throws after a Cal miss. Kristine Anigwe made a free throw to cut it to 81-79 but a foul on Skinner allowed Harvard to push the lead to four. The Golden Bears missed a 3 and two free throws on the next possession before Skinner wrapped it up at the line.

Madeline Raster had 16 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers, Skinner was 7 of 7 from the line and scored 15 and Boehm had 14. The Crimson (7-6) went 13 of 24 from 3-point range to shoot 53 percent and was 10 of 12 from the line. Benzan had 10 assists as Harvard, which led by 15 midway through the second quarter, had 24 helpers on 31 baskets.

The Golden Bears (9-2), coming off a home loss to top-ranked UConn, got 22 points from McKenzie Forbes, 15 from Smith and 12 points and 14 boards from Anigwe. Cal shot 41 percent and was just 10 of 22 from the foul line, 3 of 8 in the fourth quarter.