“They take away the middle, and they’re sort of tempting you to throw over the top and they’re very athletic, so you don’t want to bite on that,” said Delaney-Smith of the St, John’s press, which helped force seven first-half Crimson turnovers. “We put in a new press offense, and, to be honest, we were a little ragged. We didn’t run it as well as I had hoped we would run it.”

Thanks to its press, the Red Storm managed to cut the Crimson’s lead from 11 to three by halftime.

Coming out of the break, Harvard did a better job holding onto the ball, extending its lead back to double digits midway through the second period. The Crimson’s offense hit a dry spell late in contest, but Harvard’s strong defense and poise down the stretch—Harvard shot 17-of-20 from the free throw line—helped the team hang on to the seven-point victory.

“I just loved our poise, [and] I loved our teamwork,” Delaney-Smith said. “We have the tools to do it, but sometimes we panic, and we did not panic [today].”

After suffering losses to Iowa, Providence, and Minnesota, the win over the Big East’s St. John’s marks the Crimson’s first victory over a BCS-conference opponent this season.

“We’ve had the potential to beat all of [the BCS-conference opponents], so to put it all together and get a win feels great,” Clark said.

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