Lehigh Ambushes Women Cagers, 77-58

If ever there was a heart-breaking 19-point loss, the Harvard women's basketball team and its 300-plus followers at Briggs Athletic Center experienced it Saturday night.

Because for the first 10 minutes of the cagers' final round matchup of the fifth annual Harvard Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament against Lehigh, the Crimson played perhaps its best basketball of the season.

The Cantabs did almost everything right, executing down low, running their fast break effectively, and hitting their outside jumpers.

But then the roof caved in, and the Engineers went on to hand Harvard its third loss in its last four outings, 77-58, dropping the hoopsters to 4-3 on the season (1-1 Ivy).

The key for Lehigh was the play of its little 5-ft., 3-in. guard Shawn Steward. Steward, a senior from Columbus, Oh. who seemed to be everywhere, pumped in 25 points (on 10-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line), dished out three assists, made four steals, and caused numerous other Harvard turnovers in capturing the Most Valuable Player Award of the tournament.

Steward registered 20 points, six assists, and five steals Friday night in Lehigh's first round triumph over Texas Christian University.

The Engineers also seemed to have fate on their side--Harvard had captured the tournament only on the even-numbered years since it began in 1981.

Every time the Crimson looked like it was about to do something spectacular--like make a backcourt steal and move in for an uncontested lay-up, something awful would happen--like they would miss the lay-up.

Co-Captain Trisha Brown followed up her own missed jump shot near the 10-minute mark of the first half to give the cagers a 23-14 lead. It was the largest lead they would enjoy all evening.

Because at that point, the Engineers reeled off 12 unanswered points and outscored Harvard 22-6 for the remainder of the half to give them a lead they would never see disappear.

Lehigh did not allow a single Crimson point in the first three minutes of the second half until Brown (12 points, 4 rebounds) sank a 12-footer from the left baseline.

Lehigh center Jessica Lofgren banked home a 16-ft. jumper with six minutes to go to give her team its biggest lead of the night, 65-45, but Harvard gave no indication that the game was out of reach.

The cagers went on a 10-2 spurt to narrow the gap to 67-55, but in the process lost the services of senior Anna Collins, sophomore Barbarann Keffer, and freshman Sarah Duncan--who all fouled out of the contest.

"That comeback was all heart," said sophomore forward Sharon Hayes (21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals). "We didn't play the way we're capable of, and we just had too may turnovers," she added.

The Lexington native has now led the Crimson in scoring the past three games and seems to have regained the shooting touch that enabled her to lead Harvard as a freshman last year with 11 points per game.

Hayes' strong weekend play was recognized after the game when she--along with teammate Duncan--was named to the All-Tournament squad.

Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith stressed the inconsistency of her ball-club in losing to Lehigh. "There are too many players on this team playing on too many different levels of ball," she said.

"We have to be able to carry over our play in practice to game situations--there shouldn't be such a difference," Delaney Smith added.

Despite a Lehigh height advantage, the Crimson had a surprising 39-30 rebounding edge, but shot only 37 percent from the field (28 percent in the second half) while the visitors connected on half of their shots.

THE NOTEBOOK: Brown showed the extent of Harvard's frustration when she was slapped with a technical foul for slamming the ball onto the court after being charged with a backcourt foul...The Crimson was 12-14 from the foul line last night...Duncan totaled seven blocked shots in the two games... The complete All-Tourney Team was as follows: Hayes, Duncan, Steward, Lehigh's Kathy Englebert, and Long Island's Evette Sandifer.