Exactly 363 days after Dartmouth jarred the Harvard women’s basketballteam from undefeated Ivy bliss—and on the same court that the Big Green received a tail-whipping months later—the teams split the difference in Hanover, N.H. on Saturday night.

In the latest chapter of a burgeoning rivalry, Harvard and Dartmouth needed two halves and an overtime to scrape out a dramatic result. Unfortunately for the Crimson (8-6, 0-1 Ivy), that meant losing a 73-70 heartbreaker.

It was Harvard’s second consecutive Ivy League season-opening loss to the Big Green (4-7, 1-0 Ivy).

“We were so excited and fired up for the game,” said Harvard junior forward Maureen McCaffery. “I think that was one of the hard parts about losing.”

Most spectacular about Harvard’s loss was the valiant way it went down.

Down 46-27 with 13:34 remaining in the second half, and led by senior center Reka Cserny’s 10 points in the next six minutes, the Crimson launched an exuberant comeback.

Cserny, who finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds overall, hit a three with 59 seconds remaining.

That capped a 33-14 run by knotting the game at 60.

“I guess my shots were falling,” Cserny said.

After two Dartmouth free throws, Harvard regained the ball for a final shot.

Junior point guard Jessica Holsey answered the call, much like fellow Crimson standouts Katie Murphy and Kate Mannering over the course of the comeback, by hitting a clutch jumper with seven seconds left.

“It was the entire team,” Cserny said. “The fact that everyone contributed is a good step.”

If big shots powered the rally, then aggressive defense certainly facilitated the comeback.

At the same time that Harvard’s first-half field goal percentage of 29.2 ballooned to 51.5 in the second, Dartmouth’s figure shrunk to an anemic 22.7 in the final frame of regulation.

Mannering credited the change to a supercharged second-half defense.