"They didn't play great defense," said freshman point guard Jen Monti. "I think we beat ourselves in a lot of cases. Our shooting was not great and we threw the ball away a bunch of times."

When Princeton took a 44-42 lead with 2:32 to go in the first overtime, that was the end of the scoring until Monti lined home a runner from the foul line with 4.2 seconds left.

Monti's shot, her first make in five overtime attempts, represented Harvard's first points since 3:29 of regulation, a stretch of 8:25.

"They were pretty focused on Rose," said Monti, who took 14 shots in the game, making four. "They doubled on the post, and sometimes tripled, but that made it easier for the guards. I was open more than I'm used to."

In a busier second overtime, a three-pointer by junior Kate Thirolf opened a 51-45 lead for the hosts with 1:05 to play. Monti answered on the other end with 44.9 left, hitting a high-arcing trey from the right corner.

Princeton shaved 20 seconds off the clock before Thirolf attempted another three. The shot missed the rim and landed in the arms of Harvard senior Rose Janowski, who was immediately tied up to force a jump ball with 19.6 seconds to go.

The possession arrow favored the Tigers, so they retained possession and won themselves a new shot clock. Harvard junior Courtney Egelhoff fouled junior guard Maggie Langlas but Langlas, an 84-percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Egelhoff hauled in the carom off the front of the rim and got it to Monti, who found senior Sarah Russell behind the three-point arc, just right of the top of the key. The last time Harvard visited Princeton, when the Tigers emerged victorious and snapped the Crimson's 29-game Ivy League winning streak, Russell had a chance to win the game on a three-pointer from the same spot. She was wide open and her shot seemed on line, but it found only the back of the rim.