Lavietes Pavilion was alive with a stomping crowd as senior point guard Bev Moore hit a three to bring the Harvard women’s basketball team within one point of Rutgers with 6:23 left to play.

But Scarlet Knight point guard Cappie Pondexter would not let the Crimson get any closer, as she scored 11 of Rutgers’ final 15 points on the way to a 77-70 victory last night.

With 5:11 left to go, Pondexter had the ball on the right side of the perimeter, with 6’3 junior center Reka Cserny guarding her. As Pondexter stood poised to shoot, Cserny raised her arms high, preparing to snatch the ball as she done throughout the season in leading Harvard with 12 blocks.

But Pondexter, standing at 5’9, did not seem to realize that Cserny had half a foot on her as she boosted herself into the air for a jumper.

“It was over Reka, it was great defense,” Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “You have to say, what can you do? There’s not anything else you can do on that.”

Pondexter followed up with another jumper to give Rutgers a six-point lead, 69-63, with 4:26 remaining in the game.

The Scarlet Knights gave Harvard every chance for a dramatic comeback, as Rutgers turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes. With 1:52 left, co-captain forward Hana Peljto stole the ball from Dawn McCullouch and iced a layup to put the Crimson within one basket at 73-70.

Harvard was presented with a game-tying opportunity just 20 seconds later, when junior guard Rochelle Bell stole the ball from Pondexter, but Moore’s ensuing jumper bounced off the rim.

McCullouch grabbed the rebound and headed down the court, but was called for a charge and Harvard was given yet another chance to knot the score.

The foul was the Scarlet Knights’ 10th, putting Rutgers into double bonus, but because a charge is a player-control foul, the Crimson was awarded only possession rather than the two free throws a foul in double bonus usually grants.

Harvard trotted down the court, but the Scarlet Knights’ defense was set and ready as Bell dribbled into the paint for a layup. Bell’s shot missed and the Crimson’s third and final opening to tie the game closed with 33 seconds left.

Moore attempted two more three-pointers and co-captain forward Tricia Tubridy almost sank a layup in the final second, but Harvard had to foul Rutgers to gain those possessions. The Scarlet Knights made all four free throws to bring the final score to 77-70.

The Crimson had stayed with Rutgers throughout the game, allowing the Scarlet Knights their biggest lead with 1:44 left in the first half. Three turnovers and two missed layups on Harvard’s end allowed Rutgers an eight-point run that increased its lead to 11 at 39-28.

However, the Crimson regrouped and narrowed the gap to six, 39-33, by halftime.

Harvard continued to cut away at the Scarlet Knights’ advantage in the second half, but after seven exchanges of the lead in the first frame, Rutgers would not surrender it again.