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W. Basketball Bitten by Bulldogs
Mississippi State triumphs at Invite; Harvard tops Wofford
The Harvard women's basketball team was in a generous mood over the holiday weekend. The Crimson allowed an inferior opponent to make a respectable showing on Saturday and then handed over a tournament championship yesterday. WOFFORD 72 HARVARD 76 MISSISSIPPI STATE 64 HARVARD 51
Harvard (2-3) defeated Wofford (1-3), 76-72, on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the 18th annual Harvard Invitational at Lavietes Pavilion. Yesterday, in the championship game, the Crimson fell to Mississippi State (4-0), 64-51. Harvard was trying to win its second consecutive tournament title.
"We had trouble with our offense; I thought we should have gone inside a little bit more," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "We're not clicking offensively. When we run our offenses we are getting tremendous shots, but there were breakdowns."
Harvard's weekend effort was led by co-captain Suzie Miller, who recorded a double-double versus Wofford with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds and poured in 13 points against MSU. Miller and senior center Rose Janowski were named to the All-Tournament team.
MSU 64, Harvard 51
Yesterday's championship game was as defensive as a battle can get. Neither the Crimson nor the Lady Bulldogs came out swinging for victory, as both teams combined to score only 19 points in the first 10 minutes.
Harvard played a 2-3 zone defense that was effective in slowing down MSU's athletic forwards and forcing the Lady Bulldogs into difficult shots from the perimeter. With MSU shooting just 32 percent from the field, Harvard had ample opportunity to take control of the game.
But the Crimson's all-too-familiar nemesis--the turnover--descended on Lavietes Pavilion in the early going and smothered Harvard's offensive attack. The Crimson committed 15 turnovers in the first half, at one point relinquishing the ball on four consecutive possessions. Harvard took only 20 shots in the period to MSU's 34.
"You can't score if you don't take shots, and we had a tremendous number of turnovers," Miller said. "We had 15 turnovers in the first half--how are you going to score? You can't get a shot off."
Despite Harvard's difficulty holding onto the ball, and its shooting trouble--the Crimson shot 35 percent in the first half--the score remained close. Junior forward Laela Sturdy connected on a baby hook off a feed from freshman Katie Gates with 2:51 remaining in the first half to bring Harvard to within two at 19-17.
MSU, however, responded with a pair of three-pointers on its last two possessions of the half, the first by All-Tournament team selection Nitra Perry from the right corner and the second by point guard Angela Harris as time expired to give the Lady Bulldogs a 25-17 lead at the intermission.
The eight-point cushion gave MSU some breathing room in the second half, and while the Crimson continued to shoot 35 percent for the entire game, the Lady Bulldogs solved their shooting troubles. MSU shot 44 percent after halftime.
Harvard did not go down easily, however. The Crimson cut its deficit to three when Janowski found Miller slashing to the basket. Miller finished the play with a nice weaving lay-up to make the score 31-28.
But Harvard would get no closer. MSU scored the next five points and hit seven of its eight free throws in the final Harvard was also plagued by a lack of defensiverebounding, due largely to the difficulty ofboxing out in a zone. MSU not only out-reboundedHarvard 44-34 but, more importantly, the LadyBulldogs grabbed 15 offensive boards. "You can never be satisfied when you lose--youcan always do something better," Miller said. "Thekey was defensive rebounding. Even when we did geta good box out, they would go right around us andwe would tip the ball, we wouldn't grab it." Yesterday's contest was the first of the seasonin which Harvard has not had four players indouble figures. In fact, only Miller scored morethan nine points. Still, there were some qualityperformances by the Crimson. Janowski finished with a nice stat line ofeight points, nine rebounds, three assists andthree blocks. Sophomore point guard Lisa Kowalscored nine and dished out four assists. Sturdyadded nine points and pair of steals off thebench, and Gates had another solid performancewith eight points and five boards in the role ofsixth man. "I'm very proud of our effort," Delaney-Smithsaid. "I just come away from this game energizedthat we are going to be a very strong team. Whenwe put it all together we are going to be verystrong." Perry finished with 17 points, seven rebounds,five assists and four steals for MSU. MeadowOverstreet added 16 points and LaToya Grahampitched a 12-point, 11-rebound exhibition in awinning cause. Jennifer Fambrough had eightpoints, 10 boards and three steals and was votedthe tournament's most valuable player. Harvard 76, Wofford 72 The Crimson played about 32 minutes ofexcellent basketball on Saturday, then let theLady Terriers turn a blowout into apressure-cooker. With fewer than nine minutes remaining in thegame, consecutive buckets by Janowski and freshmanpoint guard Jennifer Monti put Harvard ahead66-48. Janowski drove in from the top of the keyand kissed a shot high off the glass at 8:53. Monti followed the senior's lead, taking theoutlet pass off a missed Wofford free throw thelength of the court, dribbling behind the back asshe drove the lane and finishing a beautiful movewith a driving lay-up for the 18-point lead. The Lady Terriers then engaged a full-courtpress, and the Crimson panickeduncharacteristically. Four Harvard turnovers overthe next three minutes helped Wofford to a 10-0run led by freshman forward Nancy Dubuisson's fourpoints and two steals. "I saw us tighten up and panic," Delaney-Smithsaid. "We made poor decisions with the ball. Welet their press bother us. If I knew why thathappened, I would prevent it." Harvard was able to regain some composure, andSturdy knocked down a crucial three-pointer with4:11 left to increase the Crimson's lead to 71-62.Harvard, however, was unable to convert its freethrows down the stretch--the team shot a paltry 47percent from the charity stripe for the game--andDubuisson and All-Tournament team honoree JennyNett combined to cut Wofford's deficit to threewith 1:47 left in the game. Ironically, it was a freshman who stepped upfor the Crimson in crunch time. Gates convertedtwo key lay-ups in the final 1:18 to help Harvardsurvive its own inexperience and Wofford's latecharge. Sturdy added a free throw with 11 secondsremaining to close out the scoring. "Katie Gates is still consistent and solid as arock," Delaney-Smith said. Before the stressful conclusion, Harvardcontrolled Saturday's contest behind Miller'sdouble-double and a career day from Kowal. TheCrimson's floor general scored a career-high 12points--including a perfect 3-for-3 fromdowntown--and tied a career-high with sevenassists. She also threw in two steals and evencame up with a key blocked shot down the stretch. "I just think I stepped in something before Icame," said Kowal of her shooting from beyond thearc. "It was fun; I felt like I could get theball, run and just dish it off really easily." Sturdy and Gates chipped in 13 and 10 points,respectively, while Gates added three assists.Co-Captain Sarah Russell was phenomenal on theboards, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds. Another player who made her presence felt allover the court was senior guard Kelly Kinneen. Thenative of Methuen, Mass., tied career highs inpoints (six) and steals (two), and set a careerhigh in assists (four). More importantly, shenearly took over the game midway through the firsthalf. Kinneen was involved in six consecutive Harvardscores within a five-minute stretch, recording twobuckets, three assists and two steals. She wasalso the author of the game's most vicious block,a swat of an attempted fast-break lay-up byWofford's Meredith Denton midway through thesecond half that left Denton on her back and sentthe ball careening off the wall of LavietesPavilion. "I think we haven't put together a full gameyet," Kinneen said. "I'm looking forward to thefirst game we put together 40 minutes on offenseand on defense." Harvard shot 44 percent from the field in thegame, including 38 percent from distance. TheCrimson connected on a season-high ninethree-pointers. Notes Mississippi State earned a berth in thechampionship game by virtue of its 69-64 victoryover Ball State in the first round. Wofforddefeated Ball State in the consolation game,70-69, in overtime. Janowski was named the Ivy League Player of theWeek in the season's first week for her efforts inthe Crimson's first three games, including acareerhigh 29-point output versus BostonUniversity. Gates earned a spot on the Ivy honorroll for her 38 points and 17 rebounds in thosethree games. The final spot on the All-Tournament team wentto Amy Kieckbusch of Ball State. Kieckbusch wasthe tournament's leading scorer.
Harvard was also plagued by a lack of defensiverebounding, due largely to the difficulty ofboxing out in a zone. MSU not only out-reboundedHarvard 44-34 but, more importantly, the LadyBulldogs grabbed 15 offensive boards.
"You can never be satisfied when you lose--youcan always do something better," Miller said. "Thekey was defensive rebounding. Even when we did geta good box out, they would go right around us andwe would tip the ball, we wouldn't grab it."
Yesterday's contest was the first of the seasonin which Harvard has not had four players indouble figures. In fact, only Miller scored morethan nine points. Still, there were some qualityperformances by the Crimson.
Janowski finished with a nice stat line ofeight points, nine rebounds, three assists andthree blocks. Sophomore point guard Lisa Kowalscored nine and dished out four assists. Sturdyadded nine points and pair of steals off thebench, and Gates had another solid performancewith eight points and five boards in the role ofsixth man.
"I'm very proud of our effort," Delaney-Smithsaid. "I just come away from this game energizedthat we are going to be a very strong team. Whenwe put it all together we are going to be verystrong."
Perry finished with 17 points, seven rebounds,five assists and four steals for MSU. MeadowOverstreet added 16 points and LaToya Grahampitched a 12-point, 11-rebound exhibition in awinning cause. Jennifer Fambrough had eightpoints, 10 boards and three steals and was votedthe tournament's most valuable player.
Harvard 76, Wofford 72
The Crimson played about 32 minutes ofexcellent basketball on Saturday, then let theLady Terriers turn a blowout into apressure-cooker.
With fewer than nine minutes remaining in thegame, consecutive buckets by Janowski and freshmanpoint guard Jennifer Monti put Harvard ahead66-48. Janowski drove in from the top of the keyand kissed a shot high off the glass at 8:53.
Monti followed the senior's lead, taking theoutlet pass off a missed Wofford free throw thelength of the court, dribbling behind the back asshe drove the lane and finishing a beautiful movewith a driving lay-up for the 18-point lead.
The Lady Terriers then engaged a full-courtpress, and the Crimson panickeduncharacteristically. Four Harvard turnovers overthe next three minutes helped Wofford to a 10-0run led by freshman forward Nancy Dubuisson's fourpoints and two steals.
"I saw us tighten up and panic," Delaney-Smithsaid. "We made poor decisions with the ball. Welet their press bother us. If I knew why thathappened, I would prevent it."
Harvard was able to regain some composure, andSturdy knocked down a crucial three-pointer with4:11 left to increase the Crimson's lead to 71-62.Harvard, however, was unable to convert its freethrows down the stretch--the team shot a paltry 47percent from the charity stripe for the game--andDubuisson and All-Tournament team honoree JennyNett combined to cut Wofford's deficit to threewith 1:47 left in the game.
Ironically, it was a freshman who stepped upfor the Crimson in crunch time. Gates convertedtwo key lay-ups in the final 1:18 to help Harvardsurvive its own inexperience and Wofford's latecharge. Sturdy added a free throw with 11 secondsremaining to close out the scoring.
"Katie Gates is still consistent and solid as arock," Delaney-Smith said.
Before the stressful conclusion, Harvardcontrolled Saturday's contest behind Miller'sdouble-double and a career day from Kowal. TheCrimson's floor general scored a career-high 12points--including a perfect 3-for-3 fromdowntown--and tied a career-high with sevenassists. She also threw in two steals and evencame up with a key blocked shot down the stretch.
"I just think I stepped in something before Icame," said Kowal of her shooting from beyond thearc. "It was fun; I felt like I could get theball, run and just dish it off really easily."
Sturdy and Gates chipped in 13 and 10 points,respectively, while Gates added three assists.Co-Captain Sarah Russell was phenomenal on theboards, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Another player who made her presence felt allover the court was senior guard Kelly Kinneen. Thenative of Methuen, Mass., tied career highs inpoints (six) and steals (two), and set a careerhigh in assists (four). More importantly, shenearly took over the game midway through the firsthalf.
Kinneen was involved in six consecutive Harvardscores within a five-minute stretch, recording twobuckets, three assists and two steals. She wasalso the author of the game's most vicious block,a swat of an attempted fast-break lay-up byWofford's Meredith Denton midway through thesecond half that left Denton on her back and sentthe ball careening off the wall of LavietesPavilion.
"I think we haven't put together a full gameyet," Kinneen said. "I'm looking forward to thefirst game we put together 40 minutes on offenseand on defense."
Harvard shot 44 percent from the field in thegame, including 38 percent from distance. TheCrimson connected on a season-high ninethree-pointers.
Notes
Mississippi State earned a berth in thechampionship game by virtue of its 69-64 victoryover Ball State in the first round. Wofforddefeated Ball State in the consolation game,70-69, in overtime.
Janowski was named the Ivy League Player of theWeek in the season's first week for her efforts inthe Crimson's first three games, including acareerhigh 29-point output versus BostonUniversity. Gates earned a spot on the Ivy honorroll for her 38 points and 17 rebounds in thosethree games.
The final spot on the All-Tournament team wentto Amy Kieckbusch of Ball State. Kieckbusch wasthe tournament's leading scorer.
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