At 5:38, La Salle's Jen Zenszner hit one of her four three-pointers to cut the Harvard lead to 34-20.

After three Crimson free throws, Sturdy threw a low-high pass to Johnson at the free throw line for a jump shot at 3:42 to extend the Harvard lead to 19.

La Salle, however, ran its own version of the two-minute drill, scoring nine points as the half wound down before Johnson, who made the all-tournament team, hit a jumper to give Harvard a 45-33 lead at halftime.

Thirteen seconds into the second half, the Explorers started whittling away at the Crimson lead again as Melissa Hindenlang hit a jump shot and Zenszner added another three-pointer to cut the Harvard lead to seven. Soon, it was down to five.

At 16:38, Monti drove the lane and dished one of her nine assists to Johnson for a bucket that sparked a four-minute, 12-0 Crimson run. Johnson would finish with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

But again, the Explorers came crawling back slowly on the shooting of Zenszner and Hindenlang, cutting the Harvard lead to three with 2:10 left.

With a minute and change to go, Monti hit a jumper and Johnson hit a free throw a little later to put the Crimson up by six as La Salle started the desperation fouling in the waning minutes.

"When they started their comeback, we showed a little bit more poise and we were able to keep the lead," Monti said.