"The game really turned around when they packed into that zone," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "We offense a zone very well in practice, but we looked tight against their zone, and that was unusual."

Meanwhile, Husky guard Aisha Williams brought Northeastern back by penetrating the Crimson defense for easy scores, on her way to a team-high 17 points. A lay-up by center Lani Lawrence at 7:34 capped off a 12-0 run and gave the Huskies a 59-55 lead.

For a while, it looked like Harvard would recover. Junior guard Jenn Monti scored five points and assisted on a Turbidy jumper as Harvard responded with a 7-0 run to take a three point lead, 62-59.

But Northeastern would have the last laugh, outscoring the Crimson, 15-4 in the last six minutes. Two quick Williams buckets gave the Huskies the lead again. Harvard, unable to make a shot, never really threatened for the remainder of the game as Northeastern slowly pulled away.

Despite the loss, the game contained many positives for the Crimson. For long stretches of play, it looked like the talented squad had finally started to play up to its potential.

This week marked the first time captain Melissa Johnson saw action this season. Johnson, back from a season-ending knee injury suffered last year, showed some rust in her first full game back, finishing with only eight points--all in the first half--and six rebounds on 4-of-13 shooting.

But more importantly, Johnson's leadership and passing ability seemed to fire up her teamates and gave the Crimson offense a consistent rhythm it had lacked all season. Johnson finished with four assists, making the Huskies pay early on for double-teaming her by finding the open player for an easy score.