Despite the offensive success, Harvard’s defense down the stretch was much more of a detriment to the Crimson. Dartmouth’s 69 points wer the most that a Harvard opponent had scored since the team’s 74-44 loss at Princeton in February.

“I thought there were stretches of brilliance and stretches of ‘What was that?’” Delaney-Smith said. “It was inexplicable some of the defensive errors and breakdowns that we had. That’s what I found a little frustrating or disappointing. I always want to play well and win, so just winning? I can’t be rah-rah about just that.”

On the night, Berry broke several more Crimson and Ivy League records. Among these were most starts in program history (113), a tie for second-most assists in Harvard history (517) and fourth-most assists in Ivy League history.

According to Golen, the fact that the game did not have direct implications on Ivy standings may have been a positive factor, but, nevertheless, it did not diminish the emotional importance of the win for the team.

“We’re going to come out playing the same game even though we knew that there was no pressure on us,” Golen explained. “We knew it wasn’t a ‘We have to win this game or we’re out’ situation, so I think that helped us. It was [Berry and co-captain Lindsay Louie’s] last home game ever, so we really wanted to give them the win. We wanted to do it for them.”

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at jspiesgans@college.harvard.edu.