Freshman Victoria Lippert, reigning Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Week, had a game-high 15 points against Penn. Lippert also added four rebounds as Harvard rallied to beat the Quakers on a last-second three.

The plan was simple.

With the score tied and with 20 seconds left in the game, sophomore point guard Brogan Berry was going to drive, either getting off a shot or finding an open teammate.

The plan was executed to perfection.

Berry drove, only to find a clogged lane in her way. She kicked it back out to junior co-captain Christine Matera, who pump-faked, took one dribble and buried a three, ending Penn’s (1-25, 0-11 Ivy) hopes for an upset bid as the Harvard women’s basketball team escaped Lavietes Pavilion with a 55-52 win on Friday night.

“I saw Brogan penetrate hard, and I replaced behind her,” Matera said. “I just let her know that I was behind her, and she kicked it to me, and I shot it. It felt pretty good.”

“We wanted to use the entire clock; we did not want give the ball back to Penn,” said Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith.

But the picturesque ending did not match the rest of Harvard’s play, as the home team came out unfocused and slow from the start. The Crimson trailed for much of the first half, and was outworked on the boards, 15-13.

“I think we were a little bit disappointed with the way we came out with our intensity defensively, and rebounding, especially in the first half,” Matera said. “But credit Penn, I thought they played really well defensively and offensively.”

“Penn came out fighting...they brought it tonight,” freshman Victoria Lippert added. “We have to be able to match that, and we didn’t do that right from the start.”

Delaney-Smith admitted that part of the lack of focus might have been due to preoccupation with the game against undefeated Princeton the following night.

“It’s hard to [stay focused] when you know who you have to play tomorrow night, and we need to stop [the Tigers] from being undefeated,” Delaney-Smith said. “Did we overlook Penn? I’m going to have to say we probably did. But we were able to tough it out, and their new coach did a great job with them.”

Lippert led all scorers with 15 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the field. Sophomore guard Caitlin Rowland proved to be a spark plug off the bench, tying a career-high with 11 points, including three three-pointers.

“Caitlin brought a lot of poise off the bench,” Delaney-Smith said. “I thought Caitlin did what I wanted the whole team to do. She came out confident, she came out with an attack mentality, and did a great job.”

Rowland scored two of her treys on back-to-back plays in the first half, tightening the game to 18-18. Harvard then took the lead, 21-20, off a jump shot from junior guard Jackie Alemany with 5:39 left in the first frame.

The Quakers would go on a 13-4 run, though, to close out the half with a seven-point lead. Penn shot 52.2 percent from the field in the first half.

“I’ve said all along that Penn is better than their record, and that’s what we saw tonight—they were dangerous,” Delaney-Smith said. “Did I convince my team that they were dangerous? I don’t think so.”

The Crimson and the Quakers would exchange baskets as Penn led for the first ten minutes of the second half. Harvard would finally take the lead at 44-43 off a deep three-pointer from Lippert with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

But the Quakers would respond with a jump shot from senior guard Sarah Bucar. Junior forward Emma Markley then had a layup to retake the lead. Penn would score on three straight possessions to lead, 51-46, with 6:40 left in the game; yet, this would be the last field goal the Quakers would make in the game.

That’s when the Crimson took over.

Lippert scored off a jump shot, and Berry got a steal and fast break layup to bring Harvard within one.

Markley was fouled on a defensive rebound, giving a one-and-one opportunity at the foul line, where the experienced veteran coolly sank both shots.

On the next play, a Harvard foul sent Penn to the line for two free-throw opportunities, leading to a tie game with just 27 seconds left in the contest.

The Crimson would call a timeout with 20 seconds left in the game, leading to the game-winning shot by Matera.

“We had a little luck on our side,” Delaney-Smith said. “We played a little tough in the end. You create your own wins. I’m glad we were able to do that.”