One never knows what will happen during that first tune-up game after break.

Led by freshman Hana Peljto's 21 points off the bench, the Harvard women's basketball team posted a comfortable 68-55 win at Albany (5-16) on Monday night. Typical of all post-exam games, the team showed a few signs of rust but came through in the end.

Sophomore guard Chris Gray led the Great Danes with 11 points, and forward Liz Tucker racked up 10 points for the night. With her performance, Tucker moved into third place on Albany's all-time scoring list.

Harvard (5-11, 2-1 Ivy) trailed 11-4 early on, but rebounded on the strength of its defense, which held the Danes to a season-low point total at the half and forced 13 turnovers en route to a 24-17 Crimson lead.

"Our defense picked up--that's the biggest reason why we came back," Peljto said. "Our shooting comes and goes. Defense is definitely our constant."

The Crimson shot a paltry 2-of-16 from three-point range--a disappointing statistic for a team that has often shot better from outside the arc than from the floor.

But the shooting news wasn't all bad. The Crimson shot 22-of-25 from the free throw line, including a remarkable 18-of-20 after the break, which made any Albany comeback impossible.

"We set some new team goals after break and that was one of them," Peljto said. "We practiced free throws a lot over break, and we definitely achieved that goal."