PRINCETON, NJ--The streak is over.

For the first time in over two years, the Harvard women's basketball team lost an Ivy League game. Princeton (11-8, 5-2 Ivy) upset Harvard (16-3, 6-1) 56-53 on Saturday night at Jadwin Gymnasium to snap the Crimson's record 32-game league winning streak.

The last time Harvard lost in league play was Jan. 12, 1996 when Cornell eeked out a 70-69 win at Newman Arena. After that loss the Crimson closed out its regular season with 12 consecutive victories to capture the Ivy League Title and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"I've had a few [winning streaks] in my life, and as proud as I am of that streak, I really don't care about [it being broken]," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "We're going to continue to go on and win the title, and the only effect this game will have, other than hurting our pride, is it might affect our seed [in the NCAA Tournament]." HARVARD  90 PENN  64 HARVARD  53 PRINCETON  56

Friday night's results were more positive for Harvard as it routed Penn (10-9, 5-2) 90-64 behind the outstanding shooting of junior Suzie Miller. Miller turned in one of the greatest performances in Harvard history, scoring a career-high 33 points and tying a school record with eight three-pointers.

The weekend split by Harvard, coupled with similar weekends for Penn and Princeton, keeps Harvard atop the Ivy standings, with the Tigers and Quakers tied for second place just one game behind the Crimson.

Princeton 56, Harvard 53

Allison Feaster's 34 points on Saturday were not enough to lead Harvard to victory over Princeton. The Tigers played stifling defense all night, forced the Crimson into 17 turnovers and outrebounded Harvard 37-34.

Princeton leads the nation in scoring defense, surrendering a mere 54 points per game. Harvard's 53-point output was the team's lowest of the season and well below its average of 76 points-per-game.

"I think we just plain old got beat," said Delaney-Smith. "Their game strategy was correct. I don't think we were unprepared, and I don't think our kids played badly."

It was clear from the outset that the contest would be a defensive battle. Both teams played solid defense, but Princeton's perimeter pressure took away Harvard's outside shooting--a team staple--and helped the Tigers to a slight 24-22 edge at halftime.

"We were trying to go inside more, and we just didn't do it well," Delaney-Smith said. "We struggled to get the ball inside against that kind of pressure."

In the second half it became evident that the game would go down to the wire. Neither team led by more than five points in the period, and five was Harvard's advantage with 4:20 remaining when Princeton ended the game on an 11-3 run to secure the upset.

With Harvard leading 50-45, Princeton's Kate Thirolf fed Maggie Langlas for an easy layup to pull the Tigers to within three. Following a Harvard turnover, Thirolf knocked down a jumper to make the score 50-49.

On Harvard's next possession, junior forward Rose Janowski had her shot blocked out of bounds by Princeton's Leigh Washburn, but the officials ruled that the ball belonged to the Tigers.

"The sad thing is that it was a very well-called game," Delaney-Smith said. "I do think there were about three or four calls that changed the game at the end. They were just ill-timed calls because I though [the referees] had done a good job."