Even against a team that gave her plenty of room to operate in the lane, Holsey continued to look for open shooters.

“In fact we tried to isolate for her a lot,” Delaney-Smith said. “And she doesn’t want [us to do that]. She wants to dish. And that’s part of why she’s been streaky as a shooter. Because she doesn’t go at it like a shooter; She goes at it like a passer.”

On the receiving end of two Holsey assists was Mannering, who finished the game with 14 points.

“I was just trying to get open,” Mannering said. “[Especially in] the second half we just really tried to keep our eyes open and look around.”

Captain Reka Cserny and senior guard Katie Murphy spearheaded the Crimson defensive effort with six steals between them, and 24 Princeton turnovers led to 27 Harvard points. Even though the Tigers shot relatively well—they finished 40.4 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range—they continually fell victim to Crimson deflections and intercepted passes.

“We’re taking chances on steals, rotating, backing each other up,” Delaney-Smith said. “We get motivated now by our defense, and I want to continue to do that.”

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