After a solid first half in which the team converted on 53.8 percent of its field-goal attempts—54.5 from three-point range—the Crimson sunk 19-of-27 in the second, good for 70.4 percent.

The 62.3-percent shooting percentage and 55-percent conversion of three-point tries came on the heels of a performance against the Huskies in which Harvard netted just 39.3 and 17.6 percents, respectively.

Sloppy Joes

Though heavy pressure from BU didn’t thwart the Crimson’s success in making the shots it attempted, aggressive defense from the Terriers prevented quite a few shots from ever being taken.

“Last year they pressured us a lot,” Cserny said. “They didn’t press us full court this year but they were pretty aggressive at the defensive end.”

In forcing 22 turnovers—a dubious threshold Harvard has reached in two consecutive games—BU applied intense pressure on the ball carrier from half-court onward at a minimum and on occasion prevented the Crimson from even attempting to run the offensive sets it would have preferred.

The many takeaways translated into 34 points—nearly half of the Terriers 74-point output.

But while the feisty defense netted BU many extra opportunities, Harvard’s crisp side-to-side ball movement opened up several three-pointers for players left uncovered while the Terriers overplayed the ball.

The Crimson’s pickpockets met BU nearly tit-for-tat, lifting 11 steals of their own—including five by Peljto—while forcing 21 turnovers.

“We did a lot of switching between a triangle and zones and man,” Peljto said. “And sometimes when you switch so much it confuses the other team.”

Peljto floated through the paint with ease, sneaking around ball handlers while they posted up a teammate before pouncing on the unprotected ball from the blind side.

“She’s in the locker room saying, ‘This is the best defensive game I’ve ever had,’ and it is,” Delaney-Smith said. “She read passing lanes really well. That’s what we’ve been focusing on.”

Peljto wasn’t the only one. The Crimson netted 25 points off turnovers and 12 on the fast break.

“We thought we could step up and put pressure on the ball—we have the athleticism,” Delaney-Smith said. “In years past, we haven’t been as quick in some positions, but I think we have everything. We have quickness, we have height, we have depth—we have everything in order to do that.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.