Johnson, however, was only in for eight minutes during the first half, leaving the scoring to freshmen forwards Hana Peljto (12 points, four rebounds) and Tricia Tubridy (11 points, 12 rebounds).

On the defensive side, the Crimson stepped up the pressure in the second half, making URI work for its shots.

Harvard's tight zone pressure forced 23 Ram turnovers and recorded 10 steals. The up tempo and sometimes physical play at times got sloppy, accounting for both teams' inability to control the ball.

The Crimson's defensive pressure allowed it to creep within six on a Tubridy lay-in with 7:28 to go, but that was as close as it would get against URI.

The Rams, who got their first home win of the season, responded quickly, converting four of five field goal attempts over the next four minutes.

The URI surge was sparked by a steal at midcourt by senior guard Zinobia Machanguana with just over 6 minutes to play. Picking off a deflected Crimson pass, Machanguana turned one of the 17 URI steals on the night into an easy transition bucket.

From there, freshman guard Lindsey O'Neil took over. O'Neil hit a three-pointer from the corner, her second of the game, to put the Rams up 12 with five minutes to go.