“You know, people say, ‘Oh, we overuse the three,’” Delaney-Smith said. “Well, we overuse everything. We overuse the three. We overuse the long-bomb-look-for-the-breakaway. We overuse [co-captain Hana Peljto] and Reka. You know what I mean? And so, my message to this team…is balance.”

“The long bomb’s good,” she added. “The three is good. Hana and Reka are good. But it’s not the be-all and end-all.”

Indeed, the team used its strengths to an extreme Friday night. Peljto and Cserny combined for 40 points, and more than a third of the team’s points were off three-pointers.

But the 22 three-point attempts were a far cry from the 30 launched in a loss to Quinnipiac earlier this season, and several players—including Bell, whose 14 points were a career-high, and sophomore Kate Mannering, who was 3-of-3 from the field—made key contributions off the bench.

One thing the Crimson overused to its benefit was defense. Harvard held Columbia to a sickly 22.8 percent from the field, and just 1-18 from three-point range.

Delaney-Smith said she was especially happy the big lead helped her get playing time for her two freshmen—guard Kyle Dalton and forward Christiana Lackner—whom she calls “one of the strongest classes I’ve ever had.”

“Kyle was on every rebound. She was in every play. That’s unbelievable for a kid who never gets to play,” Delaney-Smith said. “Christiana had the best rotation and had defense.”

Overall, the second half was a nice preview of next year’s squad, who will feel the gaps left by three starters—co-captain Tricia Tubridy, Peljto and Moore.

But with first-place Penn hitting a rough spot Friday—the Quakers lost to Brown 85-75—the Crimson may again find itself in the thick of things. Cserny, for one, isn’t ready to start thinking about next winter just yet.

“Next year is still far away,” she said.

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.