Soon after, Alemany capitalized off of her own defensive rebound with a three-point shot.

Alemany and Markley would both finish the game with 11 boards.

Junior co-captain Christine Matera, sophomore Brogan Berry, and freshmen Lippert and Miriam Rutzen would join in on the action, allowing Harvard to even up the contest.

“[We’re strong] when we get our team chemistry,” Lippert said. “We need to jive together and communicate.”

It was fitting that the two juniors who started the rally, Alemany and Markley, capped it off for the Crimson. First, Markley hit a free-throw shot to bring Harvard within one. Less than a minute later, Alemany converted a layup that looked to be a game changer.

But the lead that the Crimson had worked all half to earn would last only 45 seconds. The Big Green used upperclassman leadership of its own to regain the lead with Margaret Smith’s foul shots.

The trip to the line temporarily secured Dartmouth’s position as top dog in the Ivy League, while Harvard turns its focus to the south as it travels to Tallahassee for a Thursday game against Florida State, ranked 12th in the nation.

“Florida State’s a great opportunity,” Delaney-Smith said. “It’s win-win. We should not feel a lot of pressure.”

The loss puts even more significance on the remaining Ivy games for a Crimson team hoping to win the league and qualify for the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, Harvard will have almost two months to prepare for its rematch against the Big Green in the final game of the regular season.

“We’re going to come out with guns blazing when we play them again,” Lippert said. “We’re going to have a real fire under us.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.