BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women's basketball's 18-game home win streak came crashing to a halt on Thursday night in a stunning 72-68 overtime loss to Harvard.

The No. 24 Hoosiers (1-1; 0-0 Big Ten) had a chance to take the lead in the final 40 seconds of overtime, but Yarden Garzon was called for a charge. It was one of 27 turnovers for IU, the most in a single game for the program since a win over Oakland on Nov. 11, 2018 and second most of coach Teri Moren's tenure.

They turned it over again looking to tie the game in the final 20 seconds. Lilly Meister, who had her first career double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds, got tied up under the basket after rebounding a missed layup from Julianna LaMendola and the officials called a jump ball.

The Hoosiers came into the game with the ninth-longest home winning streak in the country at 18 games and had won their last 17 straight non-conference games at Assembly Hall.

Indiana women's basketball caps near comeback from the free-throw line

It was a nail-biter the entire second half — there were 12 lead changes in the game with seven of those coming in the fourth quarter.

Indiana twice took the lead in the third, but Harvard responded with a 3-pointer each time. Karlee White's 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in the third gave the Crimson a 48-46 lead going into the fourth quarter. The shot came after Elena Rodriguez grabbed an offensive rebound to extend the possession.

Yarden Garzon made a late push to save the day.

She scored seven straight points early in the fourth quarter that included a 3-pointer that gave IU a 49-48 lead with 8:59 to go. She was one of the few Hoosiers willing to attack the basket and Harvard struggled with her size whenever she got near the rim. She scored a 20 points and was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line before fouling out in overtime.

Much of the Hoosiers’ offense down the stretch came from the free-throw line. They didn't have a single field goal over the final 7:22 of regulation, but went 12 of 14 from the line in the fourth and were 31 of 38 for the game. Harvard was called for 32 fouls and sent IU into the bonus with 5:50 to go in regulation.

It wasn't enough to overcome a poor shooting night — the Hoosiers shot 3 of 18 from 3-point range — and a series of unenforced errors.

More: Indiana women’s basketball: Teri Moren unloads on ‘unacceptable’ performance in win

Indiana women’s basketball has a first quarter meltdown

Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren used words like “lackluster,” “unacceptable,” “undisciplined” and “disappointing” to describe her team’s performance in a season-opening win over Brown at the start of the week.

Her team looked even worse in the first quarter on Wednesday night.

Moren watched in dismay as her team turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter, got out-rebounded and out-played as Harvard built up a 25-9 lead.

The Hoosiers looked completely unprepared when Harvard turned to a full-court press midway through the quarter — they failed to get the ball across midcourt multiple times — but their half-court sets were out of sync as well.

Moren pulled starting guard Shay Ciezki from the floor after she dribbled the ball into the corner and turned it over and Sydney Parrish, a fifth-year veteran, was called for a three-second violation and illegal screen in the first half.

Indiana had more turnovers than shot attempts (seven) in the first quarter. The Hoosiers defensive effort was lacking as well with the Crimson shooting 52.9% from the field in the first quarter and going 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

More: Why Indiana women's basketball and guard Shay Ciezki are the perfect match

Indiana women’s basketball finds a pulse to close out the half

Indiana made it a one-possession game going into halftime by closing out the second quarter with an 11-0 run.

The Hoosiers leaned into their size advantage in the post with Lilly Meister and got some clutch shots from Garzon, who knocked down IU’s first 3-pointer of the game with 2:32 to go in the half that acted as the catalyst for the comeback.

Indiana’s run came with Harvard’s best player Harmoni Turner sitting on the bench with two fouls. The shifty point guard was a dynamic two-way presence for Harvard and had 10 points and four steals in the first half.

The Hoosiers benefitted from a home crowd doing what they could to will a comeback into existence. They exploded for Garzon’s 3-point and were into each possession like it was a NCAA tournament game.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Observations from Indiana women's basketball stunning loss to Harvard