The Harvard women’s basketball team avoided a disastrous weekend Saturday night by scraping by Columbia in New York. The Crimson was just able to hold onto a 21-point halftime lead, defeating the Lions 73-65 in Levien Gymnasium.

Junior Katie Rollins led the way for the Crimson with a career-high 23 points, and junior Emily Tay had a double-double to keep the team alive in the race for the Ivy League crown.

“Tonight was a huge win,” said Rollins, who also finished with eight rebounds. “We picked it up when we needed it the most.”

Harvard (13-9, 6-2 Ivy) went into the weekend in New York knowing it needed to win both its games to stay atop the Ivy League standings. After Friday’s loss to Cornell, the Crimson was determined to rebound against a hot Columbia (8-14, 5-3) squad, which came into the matchup on a four-game winning streak.

Harvard began the game on a mission, scoring the game’s first 11 points. The Crimson made the first eight shots it took, and jumped out to a 17-6 lead midway through the first half.

“We came into this game really fired up and wanting to make a statement,” said Tay, who finished with 12 points and 10 assists.

Harvard held the Lions to just 20 percent shooting in the opening period, and took a 37-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Columbia, though, which trailed by as many as 27 in the first half, came out a different team in the second.

In the first 10 minutes following the break, the Lions slowly chipped away at the Crimson lead. Harvard was uncharacteristically troubled by the Columbia press, and the momentum began to shift the home team’s way. The Crimson gave up 18 second-half points off turnovers.

The Lions were also helped in the comeback bid by 21 second-half free throw attempts—16 of which they made. Columbia got to the line only five times in the first half.

Lions’ senior Michele Gage finished the game with 22 points, and she’s now scored in double digits in each of her past five games.

With eight minutes remaining, Columbia made three straight 3-pointers, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Lions were 7-for-12 from behind the arc in the second half.

A minute later, Columbia tied the game at 59.

The Crimson, however, answered right back, scoring the next eight points—six of which were put in by Rollins.

“We saw a different team in the second half and had to match their intensity,” Rollins said.

In the final three minutes, the Lions were unable to get any closer than five.

Senior co-captain Lindsay Hallion and freshman Emma Markley, as well as Rollins and Tay, scored in double digits for the Crimson. Hallion also added seven assists while Markley had seven rebounds.

Getting the win was critical both for Harvard’s confidence and its place in the standings. The Crimson now sits second in the Ivy League.

Coming into the game, Harvard was hoping to get back on track after Friday, and the players were much happier with their performance Saturday night.

“We had a problem with effort last night and we should never have that problem,” Tay said. “But we cleaned that up tonight.”

Their coach was also proud of how they were able to move past Friday’s extremely disappointing loss.

“Last night was the lowest of lows,” coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “Tonight I cared about our fight and our pride. To weather the storm and come out with a win is a very good thing.”

—Staff writer Jay M. Cohen can be reached at jaycohen@fas.harvard.edu.