Sounds simple enough, but the shots wouldn't fall. Peljto touched the ball down low on nearly every Crimson possession early in the game. Her efforts netted her three points by halftime, on a lackluster 1-of-7 shooting effort.

So Harvard decided to try something different. Shortly into the game, Harvard abandoned its zone defense, designed to maximize its size advantage, and switched to a man-to-man full-court press, pushing the ball up the floor at every possible opportunity.

The problem: successful pressing teams are built around quickness, and Harvard's biggest strength is its size. The Crimson was so much better than most of the CCSU squad that the press should've worked anyway. But the only success Harvard found with its up-tempo game was turning the ball over through bad passes and generally sloppy play.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils' lead steadily grew. After Jenn Monti's three tied the game at 20, Harvard went cold, missing shot after shot as CCSU ended the half on a 13-4 run.

From there, the bottom fell out. After the listless opening to the second half, Delaney-Smith called a timeout and pulled all five starters, in effect throwing her hands up in disgust at the inability of her team to make use of its athletic skill.

"They were horrible," Delaney-Smith said. "They weren't ready to play in the first half or in the second half."

Late in the game, Harvard finally found the right formula. Playing with a mix-mash lineup of two formerly unknown freshman, Monti, sophomore starter Kate Ides, and a backup center, the Crimson went on a 14-1 run, pulling to 67-65 with under two minutes left.