“Things just clicked in the second half,” Markley said. “I got a little angrier and a little bit more fired up.”
She was a force in the paint for the rest of the half, finishing with 17 points, seven boards and six blocks.
Yet despite the strong effort from Markley, Harvard was unable to put Brown away for good in the second half.
“Credit Brown for how scrappy they were, they played the underdog role well,” Delaney-Smith said. “[They played with] nothing to lose...They are deep—just [kept] putting waves of people at us.”
The Bears got as close as six following a layup from Christina Johnson with eight minutes left in the second, but the Crimson was able to respond.
Berry drove the lane to dish to a wide-open Miriam Rutzen for an easy lay-up. Rutzen then got a block on the other end of the floor, leading to two free throws for Lippert and setting off a 17-8 Harvard run to close out the game.