Harvard eventually took back possession with nine minutes left when co-captain Delia Pais picked up a loose ball.

The Crimson scored three goals in just over three minutes off free-position shots from freshman Danielle Tetreault, VanderMeulen, and Petropulos to get within one with 4:14 left.

After Petropulos’ goal, the Bears won the ensuing draw control and began to stall again. With 2:33 to play, Harvard was whistled for a foul, setting up a scoring opportunity for Brown.

Senior goalkeeper Katherine Martino deflected the Bears’ first shot attempt, but Brown’s Tara Rooke put back the rebound to give her team a two-goal lead with 1:39 left.

Baskind answered 38 seconds later, taking a pass from VanderMeulen in front of the net and then beating Harvey to set up Harvard’s final possession.

But the Crimson’s first-half deficit was ultimately too much to overcome.

In the opening frame, Harvard was fully outplayed by the Bears, surrendering nine goals and losing nine of 12 draw controls. Brown was led by sophomore attacker Kaela McGilloway, who notched five scores in the opening frame.

“To me, the real issue is the first half,” Miller said. “Until we fix the fact that we feel other people out and wait for them to set the tone, it doesn’t really matter what we do in the second half.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.