On Feb. 22 against Brown, Harvard's elite defense gave up about as wide open of a half-court layup attempt as it had all season.
With seven seconds remaining, Bears center Gianna Aiello snuck behind the Crimson back line, received a long pass just before Harvard forward Elena Rodriguez could catch up, spun and missed the shot. It would have flipped a 58-57 Crimson lead Brown's way and wiped out Harvard's backup plan to making the NCAA Tournament.
"It was like life was going in slow motion, because that at-large bid was going right through that net," Harvard coach Carrie Moore said. "But luckily, it rolled out and and went the other way."
That's reality for the Crimson entering March. They started 20-3 for the second time in program history before last night's loss to Princeton and are 9-3 in the Ivy League. They took down Indiana, ranked at the time, on the road Nov. 7. The Crimson boast the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, holding opponents to just 52.0 points per game. They're 34th in the latest NET rankings as of Friday, the second-highest mid-major, and in ESPN's latest bracketology, they receive one of the last four at-large bids to March Madness.
