It seemed like it was going to be easy for the Crimson women’s basketball team.

Junior Emma Markley directed the opening tip-off to sophomore point guard Brogan Berry, leading to a basket by freshman Victoria Lippert before 10 seconds had expired, and Harvard amassed nearly 20 points before Holy Cross got on the board.

Lippert and Markley were hitting their shots and would finish the half with 10 points apiece. It looked like the Crimson (4-3) would sail smoothly to an eventual 74-57 defeat of the Crusaders (3-5).

“I loved how we started, and I’m proud of how we started,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “It’s not unusual to get a big lead like that and then think that the game is over.”

But a change of winds was in store.

As the first half wore on, the Crimson appeared more and more comfortable with their seemingly-unchallenged lead, and Holy Cross started to fight its way back into the game.

The Crimson rode into halftime with a 16-point advantage, but the game was much more even.

The teams switched roles in the second half. This time, it was the Crusaders who got on the board first, with guard Brianna McFadden hitting two free throws to open the second period.

“I guess my halftime speech was awful,” Delaney-Smith said. “I’ll work on fixing [it].”

Holy Cross charged into the second half with an energy that was absent from its play in the opening minutes of the game. Harvard seemed unable to respond to the Crusaders’ increased intensity on defense, and its shots simply stopped falling.

“Too many of us are catching as passers and not catching as shooters,” Delaney-Smith said. “We’re catching the ball, and then getting low and looking to shoot. I want us to be catch-and-shoot people.”

On the other end of the court, the Crimson found itself in foul trouble, and Holy Cross capitalized on its trips to the line.

Crusaders forward Whitney Fremeau hit two free throws with 14:27 to go, narrowing the margin to three.

“I think the game is really about momentum,” Markley said. “The more energy you can bring to the court, the more energy from the bench, the more energy from the fans, whatever you can do to rile your team up is eventually what’s going to rule the game.”

With the score 40-37, the Crusaders took control of the game’s energy as well as its momentum.