Cinderella Run Gunned Down By Sharpshooting Arkansas

PALO ALTO, Calif.--"Here come the giant killers." Those were the words of a Stanford Event Staff Member as the Harvard women's basketball team quietly entered Maples Pavilion last night through the players' entrance. Harvard (23-5, 12-2 Ivy) was getting ready to battle ninth-seeded Arkansas in a second-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament with the winner earning a trip to the famed Sweet Sixteen.

But all the Stanford employee could see was the team that had pulled off the biggest upset in the history of college basketball just two nights earlier.

"There they are--the giant killers," the man repeated. "Welcome back." "Thanks," responded Harvard sophomore Laela Sturdy. "It's nice to be back." The Crimson was back because it outplayed the Cardinal--a team that had made 10 consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances between 1988 and 1997--on Saturday night. The Stanford Event Staff member knew that; unfortunately, it appears the rest of the West Coast does not.

Since its stunning victory over fifth-ranked Stanford, Harvard has had to read in numerous California newspapers that it was not the Crimson's ability, but rather the Cardinal's poor play that led to the first upset of a number one seed by a 16 seed in the history of the men's or women's Tournaments.

Numerous columnists have written that without the services of All-American forwards Kristin Folkl and Vanessa Nygaard, Stanford was doomed before the start of the game. Harvard just happened to be in the right place at the right time--how else could one explain Stanford losing to "Harvard and little Suzie Miller" as one writer put it?

How about because Harvard outplayed Stanford, plain and simple? Maybe, Harvard came out victorious because it had an All-American named Allison Feaster who managed to score 35 points, pull down 13 rebounds, nab a few steals and dazzle a national television audience. Feaster's performance even had Rebecca Lobo and the rest of the ESPN studio anchors wondering why she did not receive higher All-America honors.

The answer, Rebecca, is that too many reporters failed to recognize Feaster's talent in the same way that they are now blind to Harvard's. Following Arkansas' 82-64 victory last night, Lady Razorbacks' Coach Gary Blair and their three-time All-American Christy Smith recognized Feaster's awesome ability after she dropped 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in another outstanding display.

"Watching her play the other nigh, I was petrified of her," Smith said in the post-game press conference. "I don't think I've seen a player take over a game like that. She is just unbelievable. I think she's definitely underrated."

"[Feaster] reminds me of a smaller version of Natalie Williams who's the best player in the ABL," Blair added. "She's very, very special, and before she hits Wall Street I hope she hits the pro leagues for a few years because we need quality people like that."

Those comments were volunteered by a victorious SEC coach and one of the best point guards in the nation. They have seen the very best in action, and they know talent when they see it. But they extended their praise to Harvard's team, as well, something others have been unwilling to do.

Maybe, just maybe, the Crimson downed the Cardinal because Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith had the perfect defensive game plan--double and triple team Stanford All-American forward Olympia Scott and force the Cardinal guards to beat you with the outside shot.

Delaney-Smith did what excellent coaches do--she identified her opponent's weakness and then preyed on it. And Harvard's players executed the game plan, offensively and defensively, nearly to perfection.

Maybe, just maybe, Harvard became the first unranked team to defeat Stanford on its home floor since 1988 because the Crimson received excellent performances from Miller, fellow junior Sarah Russell and senior Alison Seanor.

"Little" Suzie Miller hit the game's two biggest shots within the last 1:32 of action. She scored 12 in that game, added eight last night and hauled in six rebounds in each contest.

Russell contributed 11 points and four rebounds to the winning cause versus Stanford and added seven points last night while presenting a major low-post threat in both contests. Seanor made her presence felt all over the court in the Tournament, registering combined totals of nine points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Maybe, just maybe, Harvard handed Stanford its first loss at Maples Pavilion in 60 games because all of the Crimson's players showed the poise necessary to make 5,000-plus fans a non-factor. All you had to see was the way Harvard's bench would leap to its feet and cheer with fists pumping every time a teammate hit a crucial bucket to understand the type of desire and character the Crimson displayed.

Harvard showed the same never-say-die attitude last night against Arkansas, scratching and clawing for every point against a team from the SEC, the strongest conference in the nation. The SEC sent six teams to the Big Dance, more than any other conference, and five of them made the Sweet Sixteen.

So while Harvard's 18-point loss to Arkansas may seem to counter the point of this column, it actually lends support. Considering that the average margin of victory in second-round games was better than 14 points and the lowest seed in a second round game other than Harvard was a 12, the Crimson's effort was admirable at worst, superb at best.

Harvard was also missing two of its players due to injury coming into the Tournament, and the Crimson lost another one under more serious circumstances less than 24 hours before its contest against Arkansas. Junior center Rose Janowski was taken to the hospital around midnight on Sunday night because of symptomatic ovarian cyst. She was scheduled to undergo surgery last night at 11 p.m. Pacific time.

Harvard played well in the face of a less-than-ideal situation, but it never made excuse--and it does not need to. Two nights earlier, the Crimson made history, and too many people were denying the team its due credit.

Despite bowing out of the Tournament last night following a fantastic run, Harvard has etched its name in the record books forever. Everyone involved with college basketball should stop making excuses and realize that the Crimson is simply a quality ballclub. Just ask one of the top coaches in the country.

ARKANSAS, 82-64 at Maples Arena, Palo Alto, Cal. Arkansas  45  37  -  82 Harvard  32  32  -  64

ARKANSAS:Jones 0-1 0-0 0; Karlin 6-10 4-4 16; Smith 7-14 2-2 19; Willits 6-8 0-0 18; Messer 7-15 0-0 15; Stancle 0-3 0-0 0; Christensen 1-5 2-2 4; Adams 2-4 1-2 5; Bragg 0-0 1-2 1; Satterfield 0-1 0-0 0; Anderson 1-1 2-2 4; Wright 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 30-63 12-14 82.

HARVARD: Miller 4-10 0-0 8; Feaster 10-20 4-7 28, Russel 3-4 1-2 7; Seanor 1-4 0-0 2; Basil 3-10 0-0 8; Kowal 1-3 0-0 2; Egelhoff 1-5 1-2 4; Brandt 0-3 0-0 0; Grossman 1-1 0-0 2; Zitnik 1-1 0-0 3; Boike 0-0 0-0 0; Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-61 6-11 64.