Harvard also shot 25 percent beyond the arc, making only four three-pointers despite averaging 8.6 on the season.

On the night where the usually prolific shooting of the Crimson was absent, Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith needed a spark from the bench, and that spark came in the form of Rooks.

In response to a poor night of shooting, Harvard crashed the boards and outrebounded the overwhelmed Stags 48 to 33, with 15 of the boards coming off the offensive glass—an effort spearheaded from beginning to end by Rooks.

“We adjusted to the fact that we weren’t hitting the shots that we normally do,” Nunley said. “In response we crashed really hard, and I don’t think they were expecting that.”

Rooks would finish the game with six points, four blocks, and 10 rebounds. The junior’s defensive production would prove invaluable on a night where defense was the difference between a victory and a defeat for Delaney-Smith’s squad.

Behind three points, four rebounds, and a block from Rooks in the fourth quarter, Fairfield was limited to only seven points in the last quarter.

“The way I feel about this team is someone’s going to [step-up] and do something,” Delaney-Smith said. “Taylor Rooks came up and did something.”

—Staff writer Stuart Johnson can be reached at stuartjohnson@college.harvard.edu.