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In their last 11 meetings, Harvard women’s basketball (1-2, 0-0 Ivy) has only lost twice against its in-state rivals down the I-90.

But the University of Massachusetts (3-0, 0-0 Mid-American) remained undefeated on Tuesday, finishing the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run to complete a 68-55 victory at the Mullins Center.

Trailing by seven entering the second half, the Minutewomen turned around their offense, which had been plagued by missed shots in the first half, to outscore the Crimson by 20 in the second half of play.

“I think this game showed us that we’ve got to be mentally and physically tougher. If our identity is what we do on the defensive end, then we cannot allow a team to score 26 points in the fourth quarter and expect to win a basketball game,” Head Coach Carrie Moore said.

“I feel like a game like that is a big mirror for us all. I’ve got to be better. But our seniors specifically must take care of the ball. They must execute and be sharp and finish,” she added. “Especially a game that you controlled for three-fourths of the time, this particular team has to learn how to finish those games.”

Harvard’s ten three-pointers, a high compared to last season’s average of 7.2 three-pointers and six conversions so far in its first two games, struggled to maintain possession with 23 turnovers — seven of which came in the fourth quarter. UMass scored 28 of its points off turnovers.

Sophomore guard Yahmani McKayle and graduate student guard Allie Palmieri combined for 39 of the Minutewomen’s points, with Palmieri scoring all 17 of her points in the second half.

For the Crimson, junior guard Karlee White led the scoring with 12 points, and junior guard Mary Hollensteiner scored three three-pointers off the bench. Senior guard Gabby Anderson secured a game-high of 11 rebounds, contributing to Harvard’s 12 total second-chance points.

UMass broke out to an early 5-9 lead in the first quarter, as the Crimson struggled to finish inside and capitalize on rebounds. White and the Minutewomen exchanged a three-pointer before senior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello scored a jumper to bring Harvard’s deficit to two.

The Minutewomen utilized a high-press early on, but the Crimson found space to break through on a fastbreak attempt for a quick layup by junior forward Abigail Wright. Defensively, both teams tallied two steals during the first 15 minutes.

Harvard finished the quarter with six turnovers but went on an 8-0 run to end the first, spurred by a pair of three-pointers from Glenn-Bello and sophomore guard Nina Emnace.

The Crimson’s momentum stalled in the early minutes of the second quarter, disrupted by two turnovers, and McKayle scored back-to-back three-pointers to reclaim UMass’s lead. On the offensive glass, freshman guard Olivia Jones secured a rebound after two back-to-back possessions for a put-back.

Harvard’s aggressive defense forced UMass to slow down its offensive tempo and eventually led to a shot clock violation. Anderson secured a block for Harvard, but the Crimson struggled to finish down the stretch on several fastbreaks.

UMass then had its turn with turnover struggles, finishing the quarter with eight, which helped Harvard finish the final eight minutes with a 12-2 run. McKayle scored all of UMass’s points from the field this quarter, while Hollensteiner contributed two three-pointers.

A fastbreak layup by Anderson finished the second quarter with Harvard leading 29-22.

Both teams’ shooting struggles continued to start the third quarter, before UMass broke the deadlock to finish a contested layup and three-pointer. White responded with her second three-pointer, with Anderson acting as a defensive force in the middle.

Hollensteiner scored a third three-pointer, but Palmieri answered with three three-pointers of her own in the third to catalyze the quarter’s scoring momentum.

“When you make 10 threes after not shooting the ball very well in your first two [games], you feel like you know that that would be the game where you get over 60,” Moore said. We shot the ball really well from three, but then didn’t get enough twos to kind of combine that.”

“We need an inside presence. We need people getting to the rim. We only shot four free throws when in the first two games we were shooting almost 20,” Moore added. “How we can collectively put it all together on that end is when we will feel best about what we’re doing offensively.”

Harvard continued to outrebound the Minutewomen, but struggled to finish on its second-chances. The teams exchanged a three-pointer and a free-throw, and sophomore guard Alayna Rocco helped Harvard break through UMass’s defensive zone to close the quarter at 44-42.

Both the Crimson and Minutewomen completed over 50% of their three-point attempts in the third.

UMass scored a three-pointer for its first lead since the second quarter, and two of the Crimson’s critical starters — White and Wright — entered the fourth quarter in trouble with four fouls.

Captain forward Katie Krupa finished a layup, and Anderson finished a second-chance opportunity to put Harvard back in the lead.

The Crimson continued to secure rebounds but struggled to get baskets despite maintaining possession. The Minutewomen outscored the Crimson 9-2 until there was just 3:18 remaining on the game clock, when Rocco finished a three-pointer.

However, Harvard’s deficit shifted to its largest of the game, down 53-61, thanks to Palmieri’s three-pointer and McKayle’s jumper.

The Minutewomen began to pull further ahead, as the Crimson struggled to convert shots and prevent turnovers. Harvard had seven turnovers to UMass’s two, with UMass shooting 61.5% from the field compared to Harvard’s 38.5% in the fourth.

“We’re beating ourselves with the amount of turnovers,” Moore said. “We're going to struggle to be any team if we’re turning the ball over 20 times.”

“We’ve got to value it more and hold on to it and make better decisions with the ball,” the Head Coach added. “To turn it over 23 times is just way too many.”

A jumper put UMass ahead by 10 with 1:30 remaining, and a late streak of free throws carried the Minutewomen to secure the 55-68 victory to close the game.

The Crimson will travel to Northern California this weekend for the Raising the B.A.R. Tournament hosted by Cal, where it will face off against Oakland University (MI) in the first round and either Cal or Charlotte in the second round.

“I think [the players were] disappointed, embarrassed, understanding the severity of just not a great representation of our program and our culture and what we've worked so hard to build here, and that some behaviors must change,” Moore said. “I’m really looking forward to, hopefully, an adversity response from a lot of them.”