If the hierarchy in women’s collegiate squash were like boxing’s lighter weight divisions, then Harvard would certainly have weighed in a class above the rest of the Ivy League and the likes of Williams and Amherst. Still, the Crimson would have been a flyweight, as it never quite could pack on that last pound—or capture that last point—and always found itself just below the Bantams.

Only a 5-4 road setback to Trinity on Feb. 2 and a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bantams in the Howe Cup final prevented Harvard from successfully defending its 2000-01 national championship with a perfect record.

Even before the season, everyone involved—pundits and players alike—had predicted that the campaign would be a two-team race.

“[We knew] we had Trinity looming over our heads the entire winter,” co-captain Margaret Elias said.

“The season so clearly built up to the matches against Trinity,” added sophomore Louisa Hall.

The Crimson sailed through its first four tests of the season, dropping only three matches against Brown, Cornell, Williams and Dartmouth.

But in Hartford, Harvard fell to the Bantams despite a dominating win at No. 4 by senior Carlin Wing, a 3-0 upset of then-fifth-ranked Pam Saunders by freshman Lindsey Wilkins at No. 3 and a clutch, come-from-behind victory by co-captain Colby Hall at No. 5 that kept the Crimson in the match.

But Harvard recovered well, sweeping both Penn and Princeton at home to regain momentum entering the Howe Cup, the women’s squash national championship tournament, at Yale.

In New Haven, the Crimson breezed through the first two rounds, qualifying for the final without dropping a game to either Williams or the hosts.

Meanwhile, Trinity swept Cornell but suffered a slight hiccup in the semifinals, beating Princeton 7-2 to set up the long-awaited rematch.

The match began with Wilkins taking a hotly contested upset victory over Saunders at No. 3.

Next door, junior Ella Witcher and Clare Austin were tied after four back-and-forth games, but Austin came out on top in the deciding game by the narrowest of margins, 10-9, to win the epic battle.

Sophomore Kristin Wadhwa fell in straight games at No. 9, leaving Harvard trailing, 2-1, entering the second slate of matches.

Elias jumped out to an early 4-2 lead over intercollegiate No. 2 Lynn Leong, but Leong woke up and handily closed out Elias, 9-5, 9-1, 9-2.

Meanwhile, Colby Hall and freshman Hillary Thorndike won decisively at No. 5 and No. 8, respectively, to even the match.