“It hurts us a little bit,” Peljto said. “We’re a team that relies a lot on the three.”

But the real trouble for the Crimson was at the free throw line.

Harvard made just 13 of 22 from the line, a circumstance aggravated by the Big Red’s freebie prowess, as Cornell made 29 of 35.

Harvard 70, Columbia 58

The Lions may have tried to implement the same strategy as the Big Red, but Cserny and Peljto would hear none of it.

“It was just a feeling that we were not going to lose this game,” Peljto said. “We came out with an intensity that we wanted to have. It helped us sort of get through the close game.”

As the second half kicked off, the Lions went on a 6-0 tear to pull even at 36. But following a trey from senior point guard Bev Moore, Cserny and Peljto made sure there would be no additional momentum swings.

Peljto found Cserny underneath for an easy deuce to extend the lead, Cserny added a free throw, Peljto a lay-in and then Cserny a three. Up 11, Harvard would never look back.

“There definitely was [extra motivation],” Bell said. “We all came together and said, ‘This is not happening again’ and went out and made it happen.”

The Crimson’s top duo poured in a combined 52 points and grabbed 17 rebounds despite Columbia’s concerted efforts to shut them down.

Cserny, en route to 28 points, went 8-for-12 from the floor and made three of her four trey attempts in just 26 minutes. But her greatest impact was felt at the foul line, which she reached 13 times, making nine.

But the change in attitude was triggered not by Harvard’s twin towers down low, but an oft-injured guard in the backcourt.

“When Jessica Holsey went out and played, she just did a phenomenal job,” Delaney-Smith said. “She showed us a level of confidence we haven’t seen consistently from her since she injured her shoulder…She was a spark plug.”

Though Holsey did not score in her 18 minutes, she dished out three assists and grabbed two rebounds.

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