“Sometimes you just get in the groove,” Lippert said. “I felt pretty good today, but this wouldn’t have happened without my teammates giving me the ball. They do a great job of finding me and getting me those open looks.”

“Victoria’s a phenomenal player,” Markley said. “She’s very strong, she can get to the hole, she can score. She’s always looking to get open, which makes her even more of a threat.”

Yet even Lippert’s outstanding effort was not enough to help the Crimson pull away from Columbia in the second half.

With 5:36 to go, Harvard used a 9-0 run to take a 62-55 lead, but Columbia responded with 10 unanswered points of its own to pull ahead by three.

But a trey and a pair of clutch free throws from Berry would pull the Crimson back ahead by two with just 47 seconds to go.

It wouldn’t be until Markley’s block–and the sound of the buzzer–that the win would be sealed for Harvard.

Having won its past four games by at least 15 points, the Crimson was forced to find a new way to win, and it succeeded.

“We always say one shot at a time,” Lippert said. “We had to focus on each individual possession and value it. We had to concentrate on each individual play, take the smart play on offense, and stay confident with making the decisions with our shooting.”

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.