"[Turnovers] are a nemesis for this team," Delaney-Smith said. "We've worked so hard, but 16 first-half turnovers won't win us any ball games."

Harvard still managed to overcome its miscues in the first half. Three minutes into the game Monti, after turning the ball over to Proctor, showed great hustle in beating her back to the other side of the net, forcing her to redirect her shot, a play that elicited loud cheers from the Crimson bench.

Harvard's 26-25 first-half lead was mainly due to its defense, which forced UNH into shooting only 32.1 percent from the floor. The Crimson also outrebounded the Wildcats 23-10, a vast improvement from its abysmal effort in its previous game against Northeastern.

But in the end, the missed opportunities in the first half proved costly, as Harvard was never able to pull away from UNH, despite shooting an excellent 61.5 percent from the floor in the second half.

The Wildcats were unable to stop Crimson center Melissa Johnson underneath. Johnson led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Gates added 12 points, including two three-pointers, but committed five turnovers.

Kelley, after a shaky start, managed to be an offensive force for the Crimson. Her 12 points were highlighted by a spectacular 7-foot hook shot that she hit with two players in her face to put Harvard up 40-35 at the time.

"Bree does what I want everybody to do--step it up," Delaney-Smith said. "I didn't see that from all of the five players on the floor when we needed it."

After Plencner started getting hot for UNH, the Crimson offense started to struggle. After watching Plencner drain one three-pointer after another, Harvard seemed to go more for outside shots on its next few possessions instead of relying on its inside dominance. The usually reliable Crimson shooting came up flat when it needed it most.