Peljto's career would hardly begin the way that her Coach envisioned, however. Peljto earned an early-season starting role and fast became Harvard's statistical leader, yet the Crimson won just one of eleven games through November and December. It was the team's worst start in 17 years.

A definite low point of the season was a loss to Central Connecticut, in which Delaney-Smith yanked all of the starters off the court midway through the game. Soon after, she began to use Peljto off the bench on a permanent basis.

"I doesn't matter to me," said Peljto of her newfound bench role. "I just do whatever I can to help the team."

With a new year came a fresh start for the Crimson season, and Peljto thrived coming off the bench. She led all scorers with 20 points in 23 minutes to propel Harvard to a 70-57 win over B.U. on Jan. 2. She followed that up with a 22-point effort at Dartmouth on Jan. 6 in the Crimson's critical 72-58 Ivy-opening win.

"To not start your statistical leader and have her come off the bench is very much a luxury," Delaney-Smith said at mid-season. "I like her there. She is happy with that role."

Two hiccups in the Crimson's Ivy season-a close defeat at Brown and an overtime to loss to Yale-kept Harvard well back of Penn atop the Ivy standings, yet those two games gave Peljto the experience of hitting clutch shots at the college level.

In that Brown defeat, Peljto hit a three-pointer from a foot outside the arc with a defender bearing down on her to give the Crimson its last lead of the night in a 59-57 defeat. Against Yale five weeks later, she was given the ball with 20 seconds left and her team facing a three-point deficit. She flawlessly drained the game-tying shot, part of a season-high 27 points on the night. Although, the Crimson lost both games, Peljto's play was promising of things to come.