Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –  After sitting in a hotel in Cambridge since Thursday evening waiting to play its game at Harvard, the Cornell women's basketball team decided to make the most of it, erasing a 10-point deficit over the final 9:02 of the contest to force overtime, but Harvard jumped out to a quick five-point lead in the opening moments of the extra session and never looked back en route to a 69-60 victory at Lavietes Pavilion.

Cornell (10-9, 2-3) was led by a trio of players in double-figures, including Allyson DiMagno who led the visitors with a 20-point, 14 rebound double-double while playing all 45 minutes. Clare Fitzpatrick was also outstanding, connecting on 6-of-8 baskets and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists. Stephanie Long finished with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Harvard (13-6, 4-1) was led by Victoria Lippert's 19 points, while Christine Clark added 15 points and nine rebounds. Temi Fagbenle chipped in 12 points and six rebounds in the victory. 

The Crimson shot 39 percent from the floor but was held to just 17 percent from 3-point range, while Cornell hit 38 percent overall and 21 percent from beyond the arc. Harvard outrebounded the visitors 42-36, despite Cornell's outstanding performance on the boards over the final 25 minutes as it outrebounded the Crimson, 24-22. Both teams turned the ball over 17 times with Cornell coming up with nine steals.

After an elbow jumper by Long knotted the game at 2-2 in the early moments of the contest, Harvard rattled off seven-consecutive points to take a 9-2 lead at the 15:20 mark. The Big Red got back into the contest when Fitzpatrick made a pair of made free throws, took a charge on the other end and then knocked down an elbow jumper on Cornell's next possession to make it a 9-6 contest with 14:20 to play in the half.

A bucket by Miriam Rutzen was answered by a foul line jumper from Spencer Lane but five consecutive points by Clarke pushed the home team's lead to 16-8. A fastbreak layup from Taylor Flynn temporarily ended the Harvard run but a pair of free throws by Clarke and a jumper form Emma Golen put the Big Red down by nine points, 19-10.

DiMagno scored the next four points of the game, but the Crimson scored the next five points to take its first double-digit lead of the contest (24-14) with 5:47 remaining in the half.

Moments later, a deep trey by Ali Curtis gave Harvard its largest lead of the game, going up 29-16, but Cornell closed the half on a 7-0 run to make it a 29-23 game at the intermission. The Big Red run began with a runner in the lane by DiMagno, followed by a Long 3-pointer. Harvard turned the ball over on its next possession and Lane hit an elbow jumper as the shot-clock expired to make it a six-point game. On the Crimson's next possession, Flynn came up with a huge steal and neither team would score again before the break.

DiMagno got a hard-fought offensive rebound in the opening moments of the second half and scored a wide-open layup to make it a four-point game at 29-25. Lippert answered on Harvard's next possession, but another jumper at the shot-clock buzzer, this time by Long, and a pair of made free throws by Fitzpatrick turned it into a one-possession game (32-29) with 16:53 to play. 

An 8-1 run returned the double-digit lead to the home team with 13:45 to play, but Cornell responded with a 7-2 run, which feature a layuup from DiMagno, a reverse layup from Fitzpatrick, and a deep trey from Long, to make it a 42-37 game with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

Clarke hit a single free-throw and Lippert scored four consecutive points to push the Crimson's lead back to 10 points (47-37) but Fitzpatrick registered five straight points, including an impressive one-handed put-back while being fouled, to make it a 47-42 game.

Lippert and Fitzpatrick traded buckets and a runner in the lane by DiMagno wrapped up a 9-2 run to bring the visitors within three points, 49-46, with 5:50 to play.

Fagbenle ended the Cornell run with a jumper from the top of the key but a deep trey by Lyman made it a 51-49 game with 2:32 to play. Harvard turned the ball over on its next possession and with just over two minutes to play, DiMagno knotted the game at 51-51 with a baseline jumper.

Clarke handed the home team the lead with a layup at the 1:35 mark but after a pair of defensive stops from both teams, Fitzpatrick connected on a put-back off an offensive board to make it 53-53 with 25 seconds to play.

Harvard called a timeout with 16 seconds to go but never got a shot off as the teams went into overtime.

The Crimson jumped out to a quick 59-54 lead in the extra session and hit its free throws down the stretch to take the 69-60 victory.