The timing couldn’t have been much better. In its biggest game of the season so far, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team turned in its best performance.

The fate of the Crimson (6-6, 2-2 Ivy), which hosts the Tigers (6-5, 3-1) at Harvard Stadium on Saturday afternoon, rests very heavily on the result of this game.

Co-captain Melanie Baskind led a balanced offensive effort for the Crimson, tallying her fourth hattrick of the season and 12th of her career.

It was a mixed weekend for Harvard athletics. While softball dominated, outscoring its opponents 26-4 en route to four consecutive wins, baseball struggled, falling in three of weekend contests.

Harvard women’s lacrosse jumped out early and never looked back, besting Brown 16-8 on Saturday.

The first half of the 2012 season was a frustrating one for the Harvard women’s lacrosse team.

The early deficit was too much for the Crimson (4-6, 1-2 Ivy) to overcome, falling to Virginia (9-4, 2-2 ACC), 12-6, at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.