Goin' Bohlen: Knock, Knock. Who's There? Opportunity. Opportunity Who?

Opportunity knocked on Friday for the Harvard women's basketball team, but the Crimson wasn't ready to answer.

When the Crimson was ready to answer on Saturday, opportunity just didn't knock.

This weekend, Harvard came out with a chance to run the table on its last three games against Columbia, Cornell and first-place Dartmouth to force a tie atop the Ivy League with Dartmouth and Penn, assuming both teams would win their other remaining games.

But first things first. Before tomorrow's showdown with the Big Green in Hanover could happen and have any playoff implications, the Crimson (16-9, 9-4) needed to beat the Lions (7-18, 6-8 Ivy) and the Big Red (11-15, 3-11), two teams relegated to the rest of the Ivy pack.

An easy task, right?

Well, at least theoretically. This is the Ivy League, where up can suddenly become down and, on any given night, the last-place team can beat the first-place team, as happened earlier this year when Brown knocked Harvard out of a tie for first.

Friday, against Columbia in the Crimson's most recent "biggest game of the year," Harvard started off as a ball of nerves.

The Lions came out equally flat, failing to score at all in the first eight minutes, but the Crimson couldn't answer opportunity's call, scoring just nine points over the same period of time.

Then the Lions woke up and realized that they had nothing to lose but a game, and freshman center Shaunte Edmonds hit a turnaround jumper at 11:38 to get things roaring offensively. By 2:49, the Lions had a 21-17 lead, following a 21-8 run.

The Crimson was lucky to leave the half with a 21-21 tie after freshman guard Bree Kelley made two layups.

At halftime, Harvard still had more than a decent chance to win, and both teams had a clean slate. They went into the locker rooms at half shooting around 30 percent from the floor, and the Crimson's 13 turnovers were just two more than the Lions' halftime total.

But, for the last 20 minutes of the game, Columbia played like anything but an also-ran, and the Crimson played like anything but a contender.

Freshman center Kate Ides hit a layup on the Crimson's first second-half possession to give Harvard a two-point lead. After the Lions scored three points, freshman center Sarah Johnson got her own rebound for a put-back that would give the Crimson its last lead of the game at 17:40.

The difference simply became that the Lions were loose, playing to win, while the Crimson was tight, playing not to lose.

After pulling to within one at 15:26 on a jump shot from captain Laela Sturdy, the Crimson fell apart until a run at the end of the game.

Sophomore point guard Jenn Monit air-balled a three-pointer, that Kelley pulled down and hit three-ball from the side pocket to cut the Lion lead to 59-56 with 11.2 seconds left.

After two immediate Harvard fouls, Columbia iced the game--and Harvard's optimism--with three successful free throws.

The Crimson was disappointed, but there was a slight hope still out there. The Lions, who would travel to Hanover Saturday, held in their claws the fate of the very team they had just beaten. A Columbia win over Dartmouth coupled with a Harvard win over Cornell would have kept the Crimson just one game behind the Big Green.

Harvard held up its end of the bargain, playing like a finely tuned machine, winning 68-58 while building a steady lead throughout the game.

Sophomore guard Laura Barnard had her career game so far, hitting 4-of-9 three-pointers for 17 points off the bench. Her previous high was seven. She also dished out a career-high four assists.

The Crimson also forced 21 Big Red turnovers while giving up just 12.

But it would be too little, too late.

At the end of the game, word from Hanover showed Columbia tied with Dartmouth. It was good news at the time that wouldn't last the night.

Columbia kept the Dartmouth lead to around five for much of the second half, but the Big Green held on at the end for a 67-57 win and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

While the Crimson did miss the opportunity this time around to play for the Ivy championship, it's to Harvard's credit that the team set up the opportunity.

And while there isn't the opportunity for a trip somewhere else this season, there is still one good opportunity left.

Tuesday's regular-season finale at Dartmouth--expected to be a sell-out--gives Harvard the chance to sweep Dartmouth for the year and claim second place for itself.

Second place doesn't really mean much, but the opportunity for a season sweep of the Crimson's main rival is priceless.

This time, the Crimson should be ready to answer.