W. Basketball Stunned by Arizona, 82-45

The Harvard women's basketball team entered the championship game of the Copper Bowl Classic versus Arizona with confidence.

Although the Wildcats had routed the Crimson 83-59 last season at Lavietes Pavilion, Harvard--which had played almost all of the game without then-sophomore forward Allison Feaster--battled Arizona closely for majority of the contest before self-destructing with three minutes to play.

As a result, the Crimson was searching for a measure of redemption Sunday afternoon. What Harvard received instead was its worst beating in two years, a humiliating, 82-45 defeat.

"Arizona is a great team and they played excellent defense," Feaster said. "They forced a lot of turnovers. We were on their home court. All of those factors contributed [to the margin of defeat]."

The Wildcats excelled in transition, scoring most of their points on the fast break to open up an 27-point halftime lead.

Harvard had advanced to the championship game by soundly beating Southern Illinois 76-52, on the strength of 20-34 shooting in the second half.

"I remember [the Southern Illinois game] being a great showing of a team effort, "said Feaster, who led the Crimson with 24 points and nine rebounds in the contest. "We really played well together to win that game."

Arizona 82, Harvard 45

Following an impressive performance in the NCAA Tournament against nationally-ranked Vanderbilt, the Crimson had reason to expect success against Arizona, a Pac-10 team which failed to gain an NCAA berth last year.

But the formula which had worked so well for the Crimson last season--a transition game based on defense, rebounding superiority, team speed and spot-up three-point shooting--was turned against them by a more talented, more aggressive Arizona team.

A harassing Wildcats defense pressured the Crimson into 27 turnovers, easily Harvard's highest total this season.

Sparked by its stellar defense and a slight rebounding advantage (48-46), Arizona was able to generate easy, fastbreak baskets against a Harvard team which was unable to get back on defense.

"[Our] transition between offense and defense wasn't smooth," Feaster said. "They scored most of their baskets in transition."

After Harvard cut the Arizona lead to 14-6 on a jumper by Feaster with 13:46 to play in the first half, the Wildcats embarked on a 20-4 run over the next eight minutes to open up a 24-point lead, 34-10, forcing Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith to call timeout. The Crimson never got any closer than 19 points after that and trailed 46-19 at intermission.

"They forced us into a number of turnovers," Gelman said. "They just got so many open layups. They dictated the game. They pressed; we didn't. I don't think we responded in the right way until the second half."

"A good team beat us and we didn't play our game," Gelman continued. "We've got to set the tone."

Harvard continued its season-long struggle from three-point range, hitting only 2-of-20 shots from downtown. In addition to the Crimson's three-point woes, Harvard has yet to find a player to take the scoring burden off of co-captain Jessica Gelman and Feaster, who have been forced to shoot more this season due to their teammates reluctance to take the open shot. Against Arizona, the duo combined to shoot just 8-of-27 from the field.

Still, Feaster said that the Crimson's poor showing against the Wildcats was not indicative of any longterm problems.

"I think both of our shot selections are pretty decent," Feaster said of Gelman and herself. "I think we're getting good shots. I don't see it necessarily as a burden. I think you also have to look at the matchups."

"I think we played hard in the tournament," Feaster continued. "I'm not worried [about our three-point shooting]. In the game against Arizona, they just didn't fall."

Harvard 76, Southern Illinois 52

The Crimson played its best half of basketball of the tournament Friday night against Southern Illinois.

Leading 26-24 at halftime, the Harvard players came out of the intermission ready to pounce on a Southern Illinois team which had shown them little respect.

"I think they had an attitude that they were playing an [inferior] Ivy League team," Feaster said. "In my opinion, they were overconfident."

The Crimson opened the second half by scoring six straight points and never looked back.

With 12:10 to play, a free throw by sophomore center Rose Janowski gave Harvard a 43-35 advantage. Three jump shots by sophomore guard Suzie Miller and three-point baskets by junior forward Alison Seanor and Gelman over the next three minutes sealed the victory for Harvard, as the Crimson established a commanding 55-39 lead.

Harvard drained 6-of-10 three-pointers for the half and dominated both the offensive and defensive glass, outrebounding Southern Illinois 58-32 for the game. So. Illinois  52 Harvard  76 Harvard  45 Arizona  82

HARVARD, 76-52 at Tucson, AZ So. Illinois  24  28  --  52 Harvard  26  50  --  76

So. ILLINOIS: Bardley 0-1 2-4 2; Jackson 1-6 2-2

5; Hudson 5-9 4-6 14; Proctor 1-7 0-0 2;

McClendon 4-13 0-4 8; Philips 1-6 0-1 3;

Spencer 0-1 2-4 3; Hasheider 0-4 0-0 0;

Washington 4-10 0-0 8; Whalin 1-2 0-1 2;

Anderson 3-4 0-0 6. TOTALS 20-63 10-23 52.

HARVARD: Feaster 9-16 5-5 24; Janowski 2-6 2-4

6; Black 2-7 0-0 4; Gelman 3-12 0-0 8; Seanor 3-

5 1-2 8; Miller 3-3 0-0 6; Sturday 0-2 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 1-3 0-0 3; Egelhoff

1-1 0-0 2; Basil 2-2 0-0 6; Brandt 2-4 0-0 5;

Russell 1-4 1-2 3. TOTALS: 29-65 10-15 76. ARIZONA, 82-45 at Tucson, AZ Harvard  19  26  --  45 Arizona  46  36  --  82

HARVARD: Black 3-7 0-1 7; Feaster 4-16 1-2 10;

Janowski 2-4 2-4 6; Gelman 4-11 3-6 11; Seanor

1-4 2-4 6; Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Sturday 0-3 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 0-4 0-0 0; Egelhoff

0-3 0-0 0; Basil 0-3 0-0 0; Brandt 2-4 0-0 0;

Russell 1-1 0-2 2. TOTALS 18-65 7-17 45.

ARIZONA: Crank 3-8 7-8 14; Barnes 5-12 3-5 13;

Alexander 7-11 1-3 15; Griffith 5-8 4-4 16; Minter

1-7 0-0 2; Hambrick 0-1 2-2 2; Crane 3-5 0-0 6;

Willis 2-2 2-2 8; Phoenix 0-0 0-1 0; Walker 1-3 0-

0 2; Giordano 1-5 0-0 2; Imara 0-1 0-0 0;

Barrington 1-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-66 19-25 82.

HARVARD, 76-52 at Tucson, AZ So. Illinois  24  28  --  52 Harvard  26  50  --  76

So. ILLINOIS: Bardley 0-1 2-4 2; Jackson 1-6 2-2

5; Hudson 5-9 4-6 14; Proctor 1-7 0-0 2;

McClendon 4-13 0-4 8; Philips 1-6 0-1 3;

Spencer 0-1 2-4 3; Hasheider 0-4 0-0 0;

Washington 4-10 0-0 8; Whalin 1-2 0-1 2;

Anderson 3-4 0-0 6. TOTALS 20-63 10-23 52.

HARVARD: Feaster 9-16 5-5 24; Janowski 2-6 2-4

6; Black 2-7 0-0 4; Gelman 3-12 0-0 8; Seanor 3-

5 1-2 8; Miller 3-3 0-0 6; Sturday 0-2 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 1-3 0-0 3; Egelhoff

1-1 0-0 2; Basil 2-2 0-0 6; Brandt 2-4 0-0 5;

Russell 1-4 1-2 3. TOTALS: 29-65 10-15 76. ARIZONA, 82-45 at Tucson, AZ Harvard  19  26  --  45 Arizona  46  36  --  82

HARVARD: Black 3-7 0-1 7; Feaster 4-16 1-2 10;

Janowski 2-4 2-4 6; Gelman 4-11 3-6 11; Seanor

1-4 2-4 6; Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Sturday 0-3 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 0-4 0-0 0; Egelhoff

0-3 0-0 0; Basil 0-3 0-0 0; Brandt 2-4 0-0 0;

Russell 1-1 0-2 2. TOTALS 18-65 7-17 45.

ARIZONA: Crank 3-8 7-8 14; Barnes 5-12 3-5 13;

Alexander 7-11 1-3 15; Griffith 5-8 4-4 16; Minter

1-7 0-0 2; Hambrick 0-1 2-2 2; Crane 3-5 0-0 6;

Willis 2-2 2-2 8; Phoenix 0-0 0-1 0; Walker 1-3 0-

0 2; Giordano 1-5 0-0 2; Imara 0-1 0-0 0;

Barrington 1-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-66 19-25 82.

So. ILLINOIS: Bardley 0-1 2-4 2; Jackson 1-6 2-2

5; Hudson 5-9 4-6 14; Proctor 1-7 0-0 2;

McClendon 4-13 0-4 8; Philips 1-6 0-1 3;

Spencer 0-1 2-4 3; Hasheider 0-4 0-0 0;

Washington 4-10 0-0 8; Whalin 1-2 0-1 2;

Anderson 3-4 0-0 6. TOTALS 20-63 10-23 52.

HARVARD: Feaster 9-16 5-5 24; Janowski 2-6 2-4

6; Black 2-7 0-0 4; Gelman 3-12 0-0 8; Seanor 3-

5 1-2 8; Miller 3-3 0-0 6; Sturday 0-2 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 1-3 0-0 3; Egelhoff

1-1 0-0 2; Basil 2-2 0-0 6; Brandt 2-4 0-0 5;

Russell 1-4 1-2 3. TOTALS: 29-65 10-15 76. ARIZONA, 82-45 at Tucson, AZ Harvard  19  26  --  45 Arizona  46  36  --  82

HARVARD: Black 3-7 0-1 7; Feaster 4-16 1-2 10;

Janowski 2-4 2-4 6; Gelman 4-11 3-6 11; Seanor

1-4 2-4 6; Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Sturday 0-3 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 0-4 0-0 0; Egelhoff

0-3 0-0 0; Basil 0-3 0-0 0; Brandt 2-4 0-0 0;

Russell 1-1 0-2 2. TOTALS 18-65 7-17 45.

ARIZONA: Crank 3-8 7-8 14; Barnes 5-12 3-5 13;

Alexander 7-11 1-3 15; Griffith 5-8 4-4 16; Minter

1-7 0-0 2; Hambrick 0-1 2-2 2; Crane 3-5 0-0 6;

Willis 2-2 2-2 8; Phoenix 0-0 0-1 0; Walker 1-3 0-

0 2; Giordano 1-5 0-0 2; Imara 0-1 0-0 0;

Barrington 1-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-66 19-25 82.

HARVARD: Black 3-7 0-1 7; Feaster 4-16 1-2 10;

Janowski 2-4 2-4 6; Gelman 4-11 3-6 11; Seanor

1-4 2-4 6; Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Sturday 0-3 1-2 1;

Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0; Grossman 0-4 0-0 0; Egelhoff

0-3 0-0 0; Basil 0-3 0-0 0; Brandt 2-4 0-0 0;

Russell 1-1 0-2 2. TOTALS 18-65 7-17 45.

ARIZONA: Crank 3-8 7-8 14; Barnes 5-12 3-5 13;

Alexander 7-11 1-3 15; Griffith 5-8 4-4 16; Minter

1-7 0-0 2; Hambrick 0-1 2-2 2; Crane 3-5 0-0 6;

Willis 2-2 2-2 8; Phoenix 0-0 0-1 0; Walker 1-3 0-

0 2; Giordano 1-5 0-0 2; Imara 0-1 0-0 0;

Barrington 1-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-66 19-25 82.