W. Basketball Denied by St. Peter's

JERSEY CITY, N.J.--The Harvard women's basketball team nearly climbed out of a large hole on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the Crimson had dug itself in too deep to emerge victorious. HARVARD  69 ST. PETER'S  78

Despite cutting a 20-point deficit to two with 3:32 remaining, Harvard (2-4) could get no closer and dropped a 78-69 decision to talent-laden St. Peter's College (4-0) at the Yanitelli Center. The Crimson played without co-captain Suzie Miller, who was in her final-round interview for the Rhodes Scholarship.

"We did not know or see that [St. Peter's] could shoot [as well as they did] from the perimeter," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "Instead of getting tougher and being stronger, everyone looked like they were shocked and gave up and stopped playing."

Harvard was led by a career-high 16 points from junior guard Courtney Egelhoff and another career-best 10 points by freshman point guard Jennifer Monti. Cristi Carbone and Patty Marchese poured in 20 points apiece for St. Peter's, while Lawanda Greene added 18 and 5'2" point guard Nicole Dames dished out a game-high 11 assists.

The Crimson shot 51 percent for the game to the Peahens' 44 percent, but 16 first-half turnovers and ineffective defensive rebounding sealed Harvard's demise. St. Peter's scored 31 points off Harvard turnovers and added 17 second-chance points.

"It's been the same thing in a couple of games--turnovers and rebounds killed us in the first half," Delaney-Smith said. "That's all we talked about and worked on all week. I was quite angry at halftime. We lost the ballgame because of turnovers and rebounds."

After hitting five of its first six shots, the Crimson looked like it would keep pace with the hot-shooting Peahens, who scored on their first five possessions. But with the score deadlocked at 11-11, the turnover bug struck Harvard once again, and St. Peter's embarked on a 25-5 run over the next nine minutes to open up a 36-16 lead with 6:49 left in the first half.

St. Peter's used a full-court press to frustrate Harvard all afternoon, and most of the pressure came from the quick and relentless Dames at the point. Monti and sophomore point guard Lisa Kowal combined for 12 turnovers in the game, 10 of those in the first half.

"That's a very, very athletic team," Delaney-Smith said. "[Dames] would bother any point guard in the country; she's just nasty. She wears on you. She wore on our point guards, and that affects the timing of our entry passes."

"Turnovers feed on each other," co-captain Sarah Russell said. "We fell into a terrible downward spiral. We got the 16 turnovers because we didn't respond to the first few, and we didn't make the appropriate adjustments."

The Crimson was also hurt in the rebounding department. Harvard opened the game in a 2-3 zone defense, leaving it susceptible to St. Peter's perimeter shooting and making it difficult for the Crimson to box out the Peahens' athletic for- wards. St. Peter's outrebounded Harvard by 12in the first half and 10 for the game.

The combination of Harvard's turnovers and poorrebounding gave the Peahens more scoring chancesthan the Crimson. Although both teams shot 50percent in the half, St. Peter's took 12 moreshots than Harvard and led 44-27 after the first.

Harvard's deficit at intermission might havebeen worse if not for some key plays by a pair offreshmen in the final minute of the period. GuardLaura Barnard scored the final five points of theperiod on an off-the-dribble jumper andtop-of-the-key three-pointer, and forward LindsayRyba, who was celebrating her 18th birthday, cameup with two steals in a 24-second span, the secondleading to Barnard's jumper.

"On offense we weren't executing very well, andwe weren't getting any second opportunities at thebasket," Egelhoff said. "We came into a lull whereour shots weren't falling at all. All of theirshots were falling, and they were getting secondchances. The first half was just ugly."

After a shaky first five minutes of the secondhalf, Harvard righted its ship in dramaticfashion. The Crimson went to a man defense andoffensively, led by Egelhoff's shooting, Kowal'stimely passing and the post play of Ryba, Russelland junior forward Laela Sturdy, the Crimsonslowly chipped away at the Peahens' lead.

A long jumper by Greene put St. Peter's up63-54 before Russell and Ryba reeled off the nextsix points of the game to pull Harvard withinthree with 6:00 minutes remaining. Two and a halfminutes later, a free throw by Sturdy pulled theCrimson to within two at 67-65.

But Carbone answered with a short jumper todouble the Peahens' lead, and Harvard appeared totighten up. The Crimson committed four turnoversin the final three minutes, and St. Peter's hitall five of its free throws down the stretch toseal the victory. Harvard's final four points cameon a bucket by senior guard Kelly Kinneen and apair of free throws by Monti.

"Once again we came back from 20 points down.There aren't a lot of teams I've coached that cando that as consistently as we are doing that,which at this particular point makes me veryangry," Delaney-Smith said. "I said before thisgame, 'We've made all the adjustments. We'vegotten better each game. This is it--put 40minutes together,' and they didn't. I'm very,very, very disappointed in the first half.Period."

Harvard also suffered a scare and a crucialsetback in the waning moments of the game. With1:26 left to play and the Crimson well withinstriking distance at 71-67, Kowal began gaspingfor air on the court. After playing through adefensive series, Harvard was able to call atimeout, and Kowal exited the game. She did notreturn.

Kowal has been bothered by a strainedlatissimus muscle in her back. The muscle swelledduring Saturday's game and applied pressure to herlungs, constricting Kowal's breathing. She will beexamined by a physician today.

Still recovering from the flu, senior centerRose Janowski only played 23 minutes. Harvard'sleading scorer, Janowski shot 50 percent from thefloor but attempted just six shots in her limitedtime.

The rest of Harvard's frontcourt contributed 23points--eight each from Russell and Ryba and sevenby Sturdy--but without Janowski's presence in thepaint, the Crimson's outside shooters did not getmany open looks. Harvard shot just 27 percent fromdowntown, and Miller's absence did not help thecause.

"We want to get the ball into the forwards notjust for us to score, but for our guards toscore," Russell said. "Most teams collapse on theforwards, and we can kick it right out. It's abetter rhythm for our team to get all five playersinvolved."

"We'll always miss a player like Suzie, butwe're a deep team, and we have to be able torespond. We came down here to win, and ifanything, we should have stepped it up that muchmore," she added.

St. Peter's perimeter game, meanwhile,effectively complemented its post play on thisday. The Peahens had made only 28 percent of theirthree-pointers heading into Saturday's contest,but they shot 60 percent from beyond the arcagainst the Crimson, led by Greene's 4-of-6 effortfrom distance.

Egelhoff shot 7-of-11 from the floor, including2-of-3 from three-point range, for the game. Kowaland Kinneen each handed out five assists andpulled down six rebounds, leading the Crimson inboth categories.

ST. PETER'S, 78-69at Yanitelli Center, Jersey City, N.J.Harvard  27  42  --69St. Peter's  44  34  --78

HARVARD: Egelhoff 7-11 0-0 16; Russell3-6 2-2 8; Janowski 3-6 1-2 7; Kinneen 2-5 0-1 4;Kowal 0-1 2-2 2; Strudy 3-8 1-2 7; Gates 0-2 0-00; Monti 2-3 5-5 10; Zitnik 0-0 0-0 0; Ryba 3-42-2 8; Barnard 3-5 0-0 7. TOTALS 26-51 13-16 69.

ST. PETER'S: Carbone 9-12 2-2 20; Aghedo1-8 4-4 6; Marchese 9-12 1-1 20; Graene 7-16 0-618; Dames 1-2 2-2 4; Daniels 1-5 0-0 2; Cromer 1-70-0 2; Harris 0-2 3-4 3; Porter 1-3 0-0 3; Brown0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30-68 12-19 78

The combination of Harvard's turnovers and poorrebounding gave the Peahens more scoring chancesthan the Crimson. Although both teams shot 50percent in the half, St. Peter's took 12 moreshots than Harvard and led 44-27 after the first.

Harvard's deficit at intermission might havebeen worse if not for some key plays by a pair offreshmen in the final minute of the period. GuardLaura Barnard scored the final five points of theperiod on an off-the-dribble jumper andtop-of-the-key three-pointer, and forward LindsayRyba, who was celebrating her 18th birthday, cameup with two steals in a 24-second span, the secondleading to Barnard's jumper.

"On offense we weren't executing very well, andwe weren't getting any second opportunities at thebasket," Egelhoff said. "We came into a lull whereour shots weren't falling at all. All of theirshots were falling, and they were getting secondchances. The first half was just ugly."

After a shaky first five minutes of the secondhalf, Harvard righted its ship in dramaticfashion. The Crimson went to a man defense andoffensively, led by Egelhoff's shooting, Kowal'stimely passing and the post play of Ryba, Russelland junior forward Laela Sturdy, the Crimsonslowly chipped away at the Peahens' lead.

A long jumper by Greene put St. Peter's up63-54 before Russell and Ryba reeled off the nextsix points of the game to pull Harvard withinthree with 6:00 minutes remaining. Two and a halfminutes later, a free throw by Sturdy pulled theCrimson to within two at 67-65.

But Carbone answered with a short jumper todouble the Peahens' lead, and Harvard appeared totighten up. The Crimson committed four turnoversin the final three minutes, and St. Peter's hitall five of its free throws down the stretch toseal the victory. Harvard's final four points cameon a bucket by senior guard Kelly Kinneen and apair of free throws by Monti.

"Once again we came back from 20 points down.There aren't a lot of teams I've coached that cando that as consistently as we are doing that,which at this particular point makes me veryangry," Delaney-Smith said. "I said before thisgame, 'We've made all the adjustments. We'vegotten better each game. This is it--put 40minutes together,' and they didn't. I'm very,very, very disappointed in the first half.Period."

Harvard also suffered a scare and a crucialsetback in the waning moments of the game. With1:26 left to play and the Crimson well withinstriking distance at 71-67, Kowal began gaspingfor air on the court. After playing through adefensive series, Harvard was able to call atimeout, and Kowal exited the game. She did notreturn.

Kowal has been bothered by a strainedlatissimus muscle in her back. The muscle swelledduring Saturday's game and applied pressure to herlungs, constricting Kowal's breathing. She will beexamined by a physician today.

Still recovering from the flu, senior centerRose Janowski only played 23 minutes. Harvard'sleading scorer, Janowski shot 50 percent from thefloor but attempted just six shots in her limitedtime.

The rest of Harvard's frontcourt contributed 23points--eight each from Russell and Ryba and sevenby Sturdy--but without Janowski's presence in thepaint, the Crimson's outside shooters did not getmany open looks. Harvard shot just 27 percent fromdowntown, and Miller's absence did not help thecause.

"We want to get the ball into the forwards notjust for us to score, but for our guards toscore," Russell said. "Most teams collapse on theforwards, and we can kick it right out. It's abetter rhythm for our team to get all five playersinvolved."

"We'll always miss a player like Suzie, butwe're a deep team, and we have to be able torespond. We came down here to win, and ifanything, we should have stepped it up that muchmore," she added.

St. Peter's perimeter game, meanwhile,effectively complemented its post play on thisday. The Peahens had made only 28 percent of theirthree-pointers heading into Saturday's contest,but they shot 60 percent from beyond the arcagainst the Crimson, led by Greene's 4-of-6 effortfrom distance.

Egelhoff shot 7-of-11 from the floor, including2-of-3 from three-point range, for the game. Kowaland Kinneen each handed out five assists andpulled down six rebounds, leading the Crimson inboth categories.

ST. PETER'S, 78-69at Yanitelli Center, Jersey City, N.J.Harvard  27  42  --69St. Peter's  44  34  --78

HARVARD: Egelhoff 7-11 0-0 16; Russell3-6 2-2 8; Janowski 3-6 1-2 7; Kinneen 2-5 0-1 4;Kowal 0-1 2-2 2; Strudy 3-8 1-2 7; Gates 0-2 0-00; Monti 2-3 5-5 10; Zitnik 0-0 0-0 0; Ryba 3-42-2 8; Barnard 3-5 0-0 7. TOTALS 26-51 13-16 69.

ST. PETER'S: Carbone 9-12 2-2 20; Aghedo1-8 4-4 6; Marchese 9-12 1-1 20; Graene 7-16 0-618; Dames 1-2 2-2 4; Daniels 1-5 0-0 2; Cromer 1-70-0 2; Harris 0-2 3-4 3; Porter 1-3 0-0 3; Brown0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30-68 12-19 78