"They had too many offensive rebounds," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "I didn't feel we boxed out as well as we could have."

Harvard's game seemed to unravel around the two-minute mark. On the inbound, the ball flew over a jumping Peljto's head and into the Syracuse side of the court. McBride grabbed the ball and laid it in for a 66-58 Syracuse lead with 1:53 to go. The next Crimson trip down the floor resulted in a turnover and McBride, a 93-percent free-throw shooter was fouled once again. Sinking both ends of the one-and-one, McBride pushed the Orangewoman lead to ten, 68-58.

After the sloppy turnovers around the two-minute mark, Harvard would make a few last-gasp efforts to get back in the game but could never get any closer than seven after a three-pointer by senior Laura Barnard with 1:12 to go closed it to 71-64.

Syracuse went on a 16-8 run to close out the game, mainly on the strength of its foul shooting. Harvard committed nine fouls in the last two minutes as they tried to climb back in it but the Orangewomen made 20 of their 29 shots from behind the charity stripe for the game, 25 coming in the second half.

The Orangewomen were led by a balanced scoring attack, as six players scored more than eight points. Perry notched all nine of hers in the second half. Leading the way for Syracuse was Jazmine Wright who had 18 points and 5 boards while Ngwabo put up a double-double, 16 points and 11 boards.

The Crimson will next be in action against Bucknell at Lavietes Pavilion on Dec. 30.