If they could have had one more minute and a little more momentum.

The Harvard women’s basketball team came up two possessions short in a huge non-conference road test on Saturday, falling 54-48 to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The Crimson rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 46 with 4:55 remaining before the Cavaliers finished the game on an 8-2 tear.

“It was a learning experience to lose that game,” sophomore forward Adrian Budischak said. “We made some mistakes in the last three minutes, but we stayed together as a team. It’s always disappointing to lose, and this game is going to keep in our brains—we can’t just settle for a close game. We’re not going to settle for a mediocre season.”

Harvard (2-3) overcame uncharacteristic cold shooting from the perimeter—the Crimson was just 4-of-19 from behind the arc—to close the gap in the second half, outscoring Virginia (4-1) 26 to 23 in the latter frame on a banner night from Budischak and two key baskets from freshman guard Emily Tay.

In the end, however, the Crimson committed four turnovers in the final five minutes and scored just one basket to give the Cavaliers the momentum yet again.

“We really felt that we could beat them the whole game,” said sophomore point guard Lindsay Hallion. “That was really disappointing. We’re not satisfied only losing by six, but it proves to us that we can play this type of game.”

It was a stark contrast to the Crimson’s road opener against DePaul, when the Blue Demons sprinted out to a 37-4 lead and buried Harvard 97-52. On Saturday, Harvard saw Virginia—a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago—start the game with a quick 5-0 lead. The Cavaliers nailed five first-half three pointers and pushed the margin to 45-35 on a Seidah Williams jumper with 9:40 remaining in the second half.

And that’s when the Crimson went on its most explosive spurt of the young season.

Two Jessica Holsey layups and a pair of free throws from senior guard Laura Robinson brought Harvard within four with 6:51 to go in the game. The Crimson forced three turnovers in just over a minute, and the Cavaliers called a 30-second timeout with the score a precarious 45-41 for the hosts.

“That was really exciting,” Hallion said of the run. “Nobody expected us to come in here and get the win. We could see Virginia getting worried at that point.”

After the timeout, Virginia center Siedah Williams netted two of her 15 points to give the Cavaliers a five-point cushion, but Shana Franklin’s lay-up and co-captain Maureen McCaffery’s three-pointer from the corner knotted the game at 46 all.

“The feeling on the court at that point was different than everything we’d felt so far,” Budischak said. “To come back and tie it up at the end—there was no doubt there. We were going for the win.”

The Cavaliers then rattled off six straight points before Budischak’s layup with 1:36 remaining brought Harvard to within four yet again. Down 52-48, the Crimson got the ball back with 58 seconds left before coughing up a game-clinching turnover. Virginia closed the door with two free throws from Sharnee Zoll.

McCaffery led the Crimson in scoring for the first time this season, scoring 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Budischak came off the bench to record a career-high 10 points and six rebounds, and Holsey finished with five points, five assists, and four steals.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.