CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Columbia rallied back from a 24-point deficit to pull within five of Harvard in the final minutes Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion. However, the Crimson scored the next eight points to hang on, 69-56, in what was the regular season finale for both women's basketball teams.

Columbia finishes the 2018-19 campaign with a record of 8-19 overall and a 4-10 mark in Ivy League play. The Lions won their most Ivy games in eight years, which included a season sweep over Brown and a 10-point victory over the Crimson a month ago in New York.

"With a young team like this you grow every minute, every quarter, every day, and I think we grew a lot over the course of the season," head coach Megan Griffith said. "Even in this game, I thought we grew a lot with our fight. We don't stop fighting in this program and I'm really excited to coach this team next season.

"We're obviously very grateful for the leadership our seniors, Abby, Josie and Sarah, gave us this season. I think they can all say they are leaving this program in a better place than they found it."

Harvard (16-11, 9-5 Ivy) will head to the Ivy League Tournament next weekend as the No. 3 seed, where they will meet Penn in the semifinals. Princeton earned the No. 1 seed and will take on Cornell.

Trailing by 20 entering the final 90 seconds of the third quarter, Columbia put together a rally sparked by a 3-point play from sophomore Andrea McCormick. Mikayla Markham started the fourth quarter with another old-fashioned three before Sienna Durr closed an 8-0 run off a downcourt heave from Janiya Clemmons. It pulled the Lions within a dozen for the first time since the first quarter.

Harvard padded its lead back to 15 but Columbia wasn't done. Markham scored, came up with a steal and found Sydney Brown on the break to trim the lead to 57-46 with 5:00 remaining. Stephanie Flynn, playing in her home state, kept the rally going with her first triple of the night and Brown followed with one of her own as Columbia found itself down five, 57-52, with 3:00 on the clock.

Brown made one more three to keep it a five-point game entering the final two minutes, but Harvard stopped the rally with eight straight points, outscoring the Lions 12-1 down the stretch to escape.

Sienna Durr led the Lions with 16 points and seven rebounds. The six-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week ended the year averaging a team-best 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds, becoming the first Columbia first-year in 17 years to lead the team in both categories. Fellow rookies Mikayla Markham and Sydney Brown scored 11 points apiece. Brown was a perfect 4-for-4 shooting and 3-for-3 from long range. Markham tacked on four assists to end the year with 120 and rank eighth in single-season history.

Harvard had four double-figure scorers on the night, led by Sydney Skinner's game-high 17. Katie Benzan added 16 while Madeline Raster recorded a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Columbia started the night with Janiya Clemmons, Markham and Durr hitting three of the team's first four shots to go up 6-4. However, Harvard answered with an 18-0 run that spanned the next 5:54. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Raster and Benzan, followed by a 3-point play from Rachel Levy capped the surge with the home side on top, 22-6.

The Lions missed 11 straight opportunities from the field until Sydney Brown connected on her sixth 3-pointer of the season with 1:30 to go in the quarter. Harvard led 28-9 after 10 minutes and extended its lead to 38-14 with two straight buckets off Columbia turnovers. The Lions called for time to stop the bleeding and traded shots with the rest of the half, trailing 41-20 heading into the break.

Columbia traded baskets with Harvard and held the Crimson to 20 percent shooting in the third quarter to get back in it. Harvard's first quarter proved too much to overcome.  

POST-GAME NOTES

- Columbia won its most Ivy League games since winning six in 2010-11.

- Sienna Durr became the first Columbia first-year to lead the team in both scoring (14.5) and rebounding (6.2) since Edytte Key in 2001-02 (10.7 Pts, 7.1 Reb).

- Mikayla Markham ended her rookie season with 120 assists to rank No. 8 in single-season history.

- Senior Abby Lee completed her collegiate career with 103 games played.

- Sophomore Riley Casey (12.4 ppg) did not play due to an illness.