Photo of Victoria Lippert courtesy of Gil Talbot.

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Harvard women's basketball team fell to league leading Princeton,73-54, Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium. Junior co-captain Christine Matera led the Crimson (11-7, 2-2 Ivy) with 19 points, equaling her career high set earlier this season. The Tigers improve to 16-2 overall and 4-0 in conference action.

Matera was 4-for-5 from the field, including a 2-for-2 effort from three and a 9-for-9 showing from the free throw line. Junior Emma Markley just missed a double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore Brogan Berry added 10 points, rebounds and two assists. Freshman Victoria Lippert and junior Jackie Alemany had solid efforts on the boards pulling down eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Harvard opened up to a 10-4 lead with three-pointers from Berry and Matera. The Tigers pulled to within 12-10 before Berry and Elle Hagedorn put the visiting team up 16-10. Princeton scored six in a row to tie the score and force Kathy Delany-Smith to call timeout. Berry put the Crimson back on top with a jumper at 7:45, but a pair of baskets from the home team gave the Tigers their first lead of the game with 6:26 on the clock. Princeton's two baskets were part of a 12-3 run that included a 10-0 run during which the Tigers held the Crimson scoreless for seven minutes.

Berry led the Crimson with seven points at the half as the Tigers held the Crimson to just 29 percent shooting from the field. Markley only played nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

Princeton extended its lead to 16 in the first two minutes of the second session. A lay-up from Markley and a three from Matera helped the Crimson chop the lead to 10 points, but the Tigers stayed hot from the field and moved ahead, 46-30, with 15:26 remaining in the game. Harvard used the long ball to get back in the game as Berry and Matera drained threes and Hagedorn scored on an off-balance lay-up to cut the lead to 48-38 with 13 minutes left on the clock. But that was close as the Crimson would get as the Tigers pulled away to as many as 17 late in the second despite foul trouble.

Harvard was held to just a 28.4 percent shooting effort from the field. Princeton, who leads the lead in field goal percentage shot 43.3 percent. The Tigers won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Crimson, 55-39.

Tonight's game will air on Verizon Fios1 Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Harvard travels to Philadelphia, Pa., for a 7 p.m. game against Penn Saturday night. The Quakers fell to Dartmouth tonight, 51-37.