W. Hoopsters Hold Back Pesky Elis at Briggs Cage

The Ivy League title is so close, you can taste it.

Last night, the Harvard women's basketball team kept pace with Brown by holding off the Yale Elis in a last-minute thriller, 76-74.

Brown still sits in first place following its 60-49 victory over Dartmouth last night.

Yale, a team with absolutely nothing to lose, came in looking to shatter the Crimson's hopes. The scenario is a familiar one for Harvard having recently slipped by Ivy cellar-dwellers Columbia and Cornell.

"The past few games have been just like this," Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "We go against these teams that have nothing to lose, and they have the games of their lives against us."

Last night was not a pretty win for the Crimson. While Harvard came out strong in the first half, building leads of up to 12 points, the Crimson could not shake the pesky Bulldogs.

Hyperactive defense and quality shooting kept the Bulldogs within striking distance for much of the first period.

"We did what we wanted to do and that was to shut down [number] 31 [Erin Maher]," Yale freshman Karen Adelman said. "But Deb Flandermeyer had a great game."

The Crimson made waves in the second half, however, exploding on a 16-0 run en route to a 21-point advantage with 12:06 remaining in the game.

The Bulldogs, however, refused to die. Yale scrapped and clawed its way back into the game, pulling within two with 44 ticks left on the clock. Two clutch free throws by Flandermeyer with eight seconds remaining finally sealed the Harvard victory.

This stunning comeback left the Crimson groping for an explanation.

"We just went cold and they got hot," Delaney Smith said.

"We weren't communicating too well," Flandermeyer said. "And there was a little foul trouble that kept people moving in and out of the game."

But despite this disappointing finish, it was still a huge win for the Crimson. Harvard rode the coat tails of freshman Nikole Cronk who led all scorers with 20 points. Cronk nailed six treys in the game, tying junior Erin Maher's team record.

Maher, still league leader in both points scored and three-point shooting, tallied 16 points, while Flandermeyer added 18 points and snagged 11 rebounds.

Junior Robin VerSchneider led the Elis with 19 points while the freshman tandem of Mary Kalich and Karen Adelman contributed 18 and 17 respectively.

Harvard is more than ready for its title fight against Brown tonight at Briggs Cage.

"This is the one we've been waiting for," Flandermeyer said.

Let's consider last night's contest a warm-up for the fireworks to come.