Women Cagers Steal Two on the Road

The odds were stacked against them.

When the Harvard women's basketball team left on Thursday for a two game road trip to Princeton and Pennsylvania last weekend, the players couldn't have felt too confident.

The team was afflicted with injuries. It had lost 10 of its last 12 contests at Princeton. Harvard had never beaten both teams on the road in one weekend. Not least of all, the Crimson had an abysmal season record (0-1 Ivy, 3-10).

"I was just hoping for at least one win," junior forward Erin Maher said.

The Crimson didn't win one. It won two. In a feat that has never been accomplished in Harvard women's basketball history, the Crimson came home from the most distant Ivy road trip with two thrilling and emotional victories.

On Friday, Harvard (3-10, now 2-1 Ivy) edged the Princeton Tigers, 68-65, in a come-from-behind win that went down to the last three seconds. The next night the Crimson triumphed again, beating the Quakers of Penn, 56-52, to complete the two game sweep.

Junior guard Erin Maher's two clutch free throws clinched the victory over the Tigers with 3.8 seconds left.

Until that time, however, no lead was safe. At 10:52 in the first half, Princeton had enjoyed a nine-point advantage over the Crimson, 21-12. But spurred by five baskets from junior center Debbie Flandermeyer and two three-pointers from sophomore guard Kelly Morrison, Harvard battled back and entered halftime trailing 38-35.

After the break, the Crimson stayed close to the Tigers as freshman guard Nikole Cronk drilled a key three-pointer at 9:11 to trim the Princeton lead. Maher's subsequent trey at 7:29 gave Harvard a 55-54 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest, despite a last minute surge from Princeton.

"This was a tremendous victory," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "Princeton is a tough place to play. The rivalry between us is incredibly strong. This game was won with defense and heart."

The Crimson overcame a 13-point second half deficit to stun Penn at home. Spurred by two three pointers down the stretch courtesy of Cronk, Harvard outscored Penn 27-10 in the closing minutes to secure the win.

The danger after the victory over the Tigers was that the Crimson would have a let down the following night against the Penn Quakers.

Harvard came out flat and Penn jumped out to a nine-point halftime lead. Penn widened the margin in the second half to 42-29 on an eight-ft. jumper in the lane by junior forward Liz Knapp. But Harvard managed to overcom e deficit.