“We played pretty well against Dayton, which was the strongest team, but couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Delaney-Smith said.

Senior guard Taylor Rooks and sophomore forward Jeannie Boehm each nabbed the Crimson’s first double-doubles of the year. Boehm scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Rooks had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Rooks started hot, scoring seven of the Crimson’s 12 first quarter points. The Flyers responded to Harvard’s early 10-5 lead by finishing the first quarter on a 13-2 run.

“We didn’t come out as strong as we wanted to,” Redford said.

The second quarter was a tug-of-war, with Dayton only able to extend its lead by two points as the teams went into the half with a 35-27 Flyers lead.

The Crimson had four players with double-digit point totals. In addition to Rooks’ and Boehm’s double-doubles, Raster scored 10 points and sophomore guard Katie Benzan led the team with 16 points.

In the third quarter, Harvard was unable to string together enough points to retake the lead. The Crimson would chip away at the lead multiple times, even coming within two points, but Dayton pulled away before Harvard could snatch control of the game.

The final quarter was a back-and-forth that echoed the previous three periods. A three-minute scoring drought in the middle of the quarter saw neither team notch a basket as the clock ticked down.

The Flyers kept their cushion for most of the fourth quarter, holding off Harvard in the end by a score of 72-66.

“I think the biggest takeaway is we have a lot of potential and we’re very talented, but we have a lot to learn,” Redford said.