And unlike the Albany game, this time there would be no successful comeback. The Harvard offense had been too anemic all day to have much of a chance.

In the opening minutes, the Crimson could easily have been up more than nine, but Harvard shot just 27 percent from the floor and frequently suffered from bad passing and turnovers.

The Crimson did come close to a near-impossible rally in the final 34 seconds. Down 58-50, Monti, who had hit just 1-of-8 shots on the day at that point, went down the floor in eight seconds and sunk a three-pointer over the head of her nearby defender to cut the lead to five.

After Kern made only one of her free throws, Monti tried to pull the exact same shot, but this time she was way off. But freshman guard Bree Kelley picked up the rebound, moved to the left corner, and hit a leaning, off-balance trey to cut the Columbia lead to 59-56 with 11 seconds remaining.

When Megan O'Neill hit one of two free throws to put the Lions up four, Monti drove the length the court, and tried a lay-in, but she was off. After getting her own rebound, she was leveled by Pickney down low, but there was no call. Columbia got the ball, and the Harvard last-ditch effort was finished.

Johnson and Ides both had off nights.

When Ides was on the court, she played well, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds. But she fouled out in only 12 minutes of playing time.