How to Slay A Giant 101

They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Whether "they" are right or not, the cliche says nothing of what weapons to use.

Figuring that out has been the task of Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith and the Harvard women's basketball team in preparation for their NCAA Tournament firstround game against No. 5 Stanford.

While knee injuries to Stanford's All-American junior forward Kristin Folkl and All-American senior forward Venessa Nygaard make the Crimson's task at least a shade easier, it will take a season's worth of effort all wrapped into one game in order for Harvard to pull off one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history.

"I think it's going to take 15 people playing as well as they can [in order to win]," junior forward Suzie Miller said. "If we're all playing at the top of our game, we'll be hard to beat, no matter how great they are."

Indeed Stanford seems beatable by an inspired team, especially without the dominant inside presence of their super sub Folkl (18.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and the complementing perimeter threat of Nygaard (14.9 ppg,. 460 three-point percentage).

The Cardinal, ranked fourth before the season started, began its 1997-98 campaign losing four of its first seven games, all without Folkl, who was busy leading the Stanford volleyball team to a national title. Nygaard, sidelined with a torn ACL suffered in the final game of the regular season, was the team's leading scorer in its first two losses.

Since Folkl's return Dec. 28, the team is 18-1, its only loss a 91-90 defeat at the hands of No. 9 Arizona.

Last season's Final Four team had the services of standouts Kate Starbird and JamilaWideman, since graduated and playing professionalhoops; this team may not know how to win withoutFolkl and Nygaard.

But don't count the Pac-10 champs and winnersof 15 straight out just yet. They still have aformidable front line that includes two-timeAll-American senior Olympia Scott, a tall butathletic forward who has the ability to take overa game. She is joined up front by 6'4 forwardHeather Owen, one of four Stanford players toaverage at least 10 points and five rebounds.

Stanford's inside presence will make itdifficult for Harvard's drivers to penetrate, andalmost impossible to establish junior center RoseJanowski or All-American forward Allison Feasterin the post, especially early on.

On the other end of the court, Harvard lacksthe size to play an effective man defense, so itwill rely heavily on double teams and weak-sidehelp.

"We're definitely going to focus on the frontline," Feaster said. "We need to pack it in andplay good team defense."

If and only if Harvard can slow down Scott andOwen, and if and only if Stanford's perimeterthreats play inside their heads--a tall order fora team whose backcourt shot over 45 percent frombeyond the arc--can the Crimson stay in the game.

"Even with Folkl injured they still have twogreat posts," Miller said. "We're going to have tomake their guards beat us--that means packing inthe paint, playing a lot of zone, and playing asagging man."

And then there's the offense.

The only way Harvard will be able to free upits interior threats and give the versatileFeaster room to work her magic all over the flooris if the perimeter shots keep coming and keepfalling.

The Crimson is no stranger to the three-pointbomb, and the trey will have to be its ace in thehole against the bigger Cardinal.

"Their offense seems to be a real strength oftheirs," said Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer abouther opponent. "They get good shots from people,and they shot like 500 and something threes."

"We're going to have to be on from theoutside," said Miller, who is 16th in the nationin three-point accuracy at 44.1 percent. "We'regoing to have to make our outside shots in orderto pull their defense out so that we can drive. Ilove that--it's a great challenge for me."

The Crimson jacks it up from down-town to thetune of 7.6 threes per game, second in thecountry. Most of the Harvard players are threatsfrom beyond the arc, particularly Miller, seniorSarah Brandt, co-captain Megan Basil and Feaster.In Harvard's NCAA Tournament game at Vanderbilttwo years ago the Crimson kept it close with aTournament-record 16 threes, 10 of which fell inthe first half.

"My shots have been falling, as have Suzie'sand Megan's," Brandt said. "We're all confidentshooters, and I'm psyched about the opportunity.The pressure is huge, but that's sports, and I'vebeen training for 16 years preparing for thatpressure."

Confidence may be just as important to stickingwith Stanford as any other factor. Fresh off anuninspired loss at Dartmouth, the team will needto play aggressively from the opening tip,something it did not do in last season'sTournament loss to North Carolina.

"We started the game last year not knowing whatto expect from UNC," said Brandt, referring to theTar Heels' 24-4 run to start last year's game."For five minutes we were reacting rather thananticipating. By the time we figured out that theywere human and made mistakes and had weaknesses,it was probably too late."

Stanford's weaknesses may be tailor-made forHarvard. Particularly in its early-season lossesto Wisconsin and UConn, it showed a susceptibilityto turnovers. The Cardinal relinquishes the rockan average of 20.8 times per game, compared to18.8 for its opponents.

Harvard, on the other hand, turns it over just17.4 times per game, 2.2 times less than itsopponents. While part of Stanford's turnovermargin can be attributed to the relativeinexperience of its guards, much of it resultsfrom its forwards handling the ball so much.

The Cardinal invites so many double teams fromsmaller guards that Scott and Owen combine for 5.7turnovers per game.

Harvard will have to avoid the unnecessaryfouls that have plagued it all season long, butBasil, backup point guard Lisa Kowal and seniorAlison Seanor can use their quickness to try torattle Stanford's forwards early.

And, of course, one can never count outFeaster, in this or any other facet of the game.Feaster is 16th in the nation in steals per game(16), and logged six against North Carolina lastseason.

If Harvard has a wildcard, it may be Feaster,the nation's scoring leader at 28.2 points pergame. Her talents come as no secret to theCardinal, and her individual decision-making willdetermine whether Harvard plays good teambasketball.

"I'm not going to try to force anything, butI'm not going to be intimidated either," Feastersaid. "It's important for us to take good shots."

It's important for those shots to fall as well.Harvard's players and coaches can plan as much asthey want, to play help defense, to crash theboards, to make crisp passes and find openplayers, to exploit the inexperience of Stanford'sthird-stringers and to out-hustle its tiredsecond-stringers.

They can do all that, and still they may lose.What Harvard needs to do to win is play twice aswell as it has played all season, and get just alittle lucky.

"Things will have to go our way--they're ontheir home court, they have tremendous experience,they've been called the team of the 90's, theyhave basketball history everywhere," Miller said."But so do we. So do we."CrimsonMatthew R. CordellBOMBS AWAY: Senior KARUN GROSSMANtakes a three-pointer from way out. The Crimsonwill need to get hot from downtown in order tocontend in the Tournament.

But don't count the Pac-10 champs and winnersof 15 straight out just yet. They still have aformidable front line that includes two-timeAll-American senior Olympia Scott, a tall butathletic forward who has the ability to take overa game. She is joined up front by 6'4 forwardHeather Owen, one of four Stanford players toaverage at least 10 points and five rebounds.

Stanford's inside presence will make itdifficult for Harvard's drivers to penetrate, andalmost impossible to establish junior center RoseJanowski or All-American forward Allison Feasterin the post, especially early on.

On the other end of the court, Harvard lacksthe size to play an effective man defense, so itwill rely heavily on double teams and weak-sidehelp.

"We're definitely going to focus on the frontline," Feaster said. "We need to pack it in andplay good team defense."

If and only if Harvard can slow down Scott andOwen, and if and only if Stanford's perimeterthreats play inside their heads--a tall order fora team whose backcourt shot over 45 percent frombeyond the arc--can the Crimson stay in the game.

"Even with Folkl injured they still have twogreat posts," Miller said. "We're going to have tomake their guards beat us--that means packing inthe paint, playing a lot of zone, and playing asagging man."

And then there's the offense.

The only way Harvard will be able to free upits interior threats and give the versatileFeaster room to work her magic all over the flooris if the perimeter shots keep coming and keepfalling.

The Crimson is no stranger to the three-pointbomb, and the trey will have to be its ace in thehole against the bigger Cardinal.

"Their offense seems to be a real strength oftheirs," said Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer abouther opponent. "They get good shots from people,and they shot like 500 and something threes."

"We're going to have to be on from theoutside," said Miller, who is 16th in the nationin three-point accuracy at 44.1 percent. "We'regoing to have to make our outside shots in orderto pull their defense out so that we can drive. Ilove that--it's a great challenge for me."

The Crimson jacks it up from down-town to thetune of 7.6 threes per game, second in thecountry. Most of the Harvard players are threatsfrom beyond the arc, particularly Miller, seniorSarah Brandt, co-captain Megan Basil and Feaster.In Harvard's NCAA Tournament game at Vanderbilttwo years ago the Crimson kept it close with aTournament-record 16 threes, 10 of which fell inthe first half.

"My shots have been falling, as have Suzie'sand Megan's," Brandt said. "We're all confidentshooters, and I'm psyched about the opportunity.The pressure is huge, but that's sports, and I'vebeen training for 16 years preparing for thatpressure."

Confidence may be just as important to stickingwith Stanford as any other factor. Fresh off anuninspired loss at Dartmouth, the team will needto play aggressively from the opening tip,something it did not do in last season'sTournament loss to North Carolina.

"We started the game last year not knowing whatto expect from UNC," said Brandt, referring to theTar Heels' 24-4 run to start last year's game."For five minutes we were reacting rather thananticipating. By the time we figured out that theywere human and made mistakes and had weaknesses,it was probably too late."

Stanford's weaknesses may be tailor-made forHarvard. Particularly in its early-season lossesto Wisconsin and UConn, it showed a susceptibilityto turnovers. The Cardinal relinquishes the rockan average of 20.8 times per game, compared to18.8 for its opponents.

Harvard, on the other hand, turns it over just17.4 times per game, 2.2 times less than itsopponents. While part of Stanford's turnovermargin can be attributed to the relativeinexperience of its guards, much of it resultsfrom its forwards handling the ball so much.

The Cardinal invites so many double teams fromsmaller guards that Scott and Owen combine for 5.7turnovers per game.

Harvard will have to avoid the unnecessaryfouls that have plagued it all season long, butBasil, backup point guard Lisa Kowal and seniorAlison Seanor can use their quickness to try torattle Stanford's forwards early.

And, of course, one can never count outFeaster, in this or any other facet of the game.Feaster is 16th in the nation in steals per game(16), and logged six against North Carolina lastseason.

If Harvard has a wildcard, it may be Feaster,the nation's scoring leader at 28.2 points pergame. Her talents come as no secret to theCardinal, and her individual decision-making willdetermine whether Harvard plays good teambasketball.

"I'm not going to try to force anything, butI'm not going to be intimidated either," Feastersaid. "It's important for us to take good shots."

It's important for those shots to fall as well.Harvard's players and coaches can plan as much asthey want, to play help defense, to crash theboards, to make crisp passes and find openplayers, to exploit the inexperience of Stanford'sthird-stringers and to out-hustle its tiredsecond-stringers.

They can do all that, and still they may lose.What Harvard needs to do to win is play twice aswell as it has played all season, and get just alittle lucky.

"Things will have to go our way--they're ontheir home court, they have tremendous experience,they've been called the team of the 90's, theyhave basketball history everywhere," Miller said."But so do we. So do we."CrimsonMatthew R. CordellBOMBS AWAY: Senior KARUN GROSSMANtakes a three-pointer from way out. The Crimsonwill need to get hot from downtown in order tocontend in the Tournament.