W. Basketball Squares Off Against Rams

Big-time players rise to the top in big-time games.

As co-captain Allison Feaster proved once again by scoring 69 points in two games this weekend to lead the Harvard women's basketball team to the championship of the Harvard Invitational Tournament, she is a big-time player.

"She is playing out of her mind right now," said co-captain Megan Basil of her teammate. "All year long we have been struggling with executing offensively for 40 minutes, but with the way Allison is playing right now, if we can just feed off her when we're struggling we'll be fine."

Feaster and the Crimson (5-1) will face their next test tonight at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion against a young team from the University of Rhode Island (URI). The Rams (1-5), fresh off their first win of the season, have no junior or senior players on a team that is coming off a 9-17 season.

"I know they have been struggling a little this year, but they play in a good conference," said junior guard Suzie Miller. "They'll be pumped up for our game because the Ivy League isn't respected and they won't want to say they lost to Harvard."

The Rams are led by 5'11" freshman Ela Lapciuk (13.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and 6'1" sophomore Nikki Blakemore (12.7 ppg). Lapciuk and Blakemore scored 15 and 24 points respectively in URI's win over Sienna College last Sunday.

The Rams are sparked off the bench by freshman guard Rhonda Pacheco, whose impressive .667 three-point shooting percentage leads the team.

URI Coach Linda Ziemke has compiled a 95-111 record over eight years at the helm at URI. And this year the 1995-96 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year has her work cut out for her as she fields a team with six freshmen players.

However, the team showed promise last weekend against Sienna College as it jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead and held on to win 83-76 for its first victory of the year. Not allowing Rhode Island to gain confidence early on will be a key for Harvard as it attempts to use the momentum gained in its championship weekend to carry it into the next part of the season.

The Crimson will counter the youth of URI with the experience and court savvy its players bring to the floor. Along with Feaster and her impressive stats (28.0 ppg, 10.2 rpg), Basil and senior Allison Seanor bring the stability and confidence of two straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

Throw in the dominating presence of 6'2" junior center Rose Janowski and Miller (6.3 ppg), and the Crimson have a combination that has proven tough to beat.

"The team definitely has great chemistry," Basil said. "Everyone is healthy and ready to go. But what is really nice to know is that it doesn't matter who is starting from day to day because there is no drop-off from the starters to the reserves."

Last season the Crimson visited Rhode Island and came home with a close 77-71 victory. But with a young team such as Rhode Island you can throw out history, as the turnover of players from last year to this has been huge.

"Playing young teams can be dangerous," Seanor said. "You have a tendency to think they will be undisciplined, but young teams are always scrappy. They have nothing to lose."

If you hang around with the Harvard players long enough however, you will realize that who they are playing is inconsequential.

"When we're playing our game, we can beat anybody," Miller said.

With that kind of confidence, the momentum this deep and talented team has right now and a big-time player like Feaster, Harvard seems right on track for yet another one of its now-famous runs to