After a weekend in Texas where the Harvard women's basketball team was blown out then escaped with victory in overtime on a last-second shot, it was looking for a little sanity last night in its home opener against Boston University.

Instead, the Terriers and the Crimson ended up in a wild fight to the finish that came down to free throws and defense.

BU converted 10-of-12 free throws and stopped the Crimson offense in the last two minutes to pull away with the 75-67 victory.

While the Terriers (2-0) led the game for all but 17 seconds, they struggled at stretches and let Harvard bounce back time after time. The Crimson (1-2) took advantage of the opportunities, but B.U.'s pressure defense and inside offensive game stopped Harvard from coming all the way back.

"We just didn't come out today with good team defense," said sophomore point guard Jennifer Monti. "We had a lot of trouble with their baseline runners."

Terriers forward Dia Dufault and center Alison Dixon combined for 30 points, most off of inside layups and finger rolls from within two feet of the basket. Dixon was an offensive terror, coming down with four offensive rebounds and finishing with 13 points. The Crimson's double teams on her left open shooters on the perimeter.

The game was marked by back-and-forth offensive streaks for either side, with the Crimson unable to make the final run down the stretch.

In front of 423 loud fans inside Lavietes Pavilion, the Terriers came out aggressive and accurate. They built a 13-0 lead while the Crimson had three turnovers in the first three minutes. Until senior guard Courtney Egelhoff hit a three to make it 13-3, Harvard hadn't gotten a good shot off.