The Crimson shot just 6-of-28 in the first half en route to a 23-13 deficit and just 6-of-15 from the line for the game. The performance was a far cry from the team's 35-of-40 effort from the line in its most recent game against Columbia.

Just as in each of its two losses against Penn last season, Harvard forced itself to stage an impossible comeback. Freshman guard Jennifer Lee, who had nine points, started the Crimson rally from the 48-30 deficit, and Peljto drained a shot soon after.

Then Harvard, for the only part of the game, suddenly became proficient in hitting from outside the arc. Gates, who led the team with 13 points on the night, started off the shower of threes, and junior guard Laura Barnard and Monti followed with their own to cut the deficit to 50-46.

But Harvard shot 5-of-25 from three-point range on the night, making it difficult for the team to get any closer. Penn center Diana Caramanico, one of the top-10 scorers in the nation, garnered her only offensive rebound of the night at the worst possible time for the Crimson. Her putback put Penn up 52-46.

The Harvard string of missed three-point shots, illegal screens and missed-free throws that followed allowed Penn to win by the comfortable score of 65-51. Harvard fouled Penn an unprecedented 20 times in the second half, although many came in the final two minutes. The Quakers hit 14-of-16 from the stripe in that stretch to bury the Crimson.

Harvard did a solid job shutting down Penn's top scorers Carmanico and guard Erin Ladley from the floor. Although the two combined to shoot just 9-of-30, Penn won the game with clutch shooting from the line, where the two combined to shoot 20-of-23. Caramanico led all scorers with 21 while Ladley followed with 18.

"Our shooting comes and goes, but we did play great defense," Peljto said. "That was a highlight for us."

The Crimson will host Brown and Yale next weekend to resume its Ivy schedule. Anything other than a sweep would deal a grim blow to its chances of catching Penn. The Quakers have come close to falling in Ivy play before, as Yale and Dartmouth have both taken them to overtime, but the rest of the league has yet to figure out how to beat them in crunch time.