Texas Two-Step: W. Basketball Splits

Unlike the Harvard football team, the women's basketball team saw last-minute heroics go in its favor this weekend as it split two games in San Antonio.

Brief side trips to the Alamo and the River Walk aside, the Crimson (1-1) did not take advantage of the 70-degree weather, instead staying in the gym and losing to a powerful Stephen F. Austin (2-0) team before defeating Texas-San Antonio (1-1) in overtime.

The latter game, played on Saturday, ended with sophomore point guard Jen Monti providing the heroics yet again with the game-winner.

Monti hit two game-winning shots in one weekend last year, handing both Brown and Yale devastatingly close losses.

Stephen F. Austin 87, Harvard 61

Stephen F. Austin, a team with votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 preseason poll, was a handful for Harvard on Friday.

What made it even more difficult was that the Crimson played the game without captain Laela Sturdy, who was in Washington, D.C., interviewing for a fellowship.

The Ladyjacks jumped out to a 43-27 lead at half, making a Crimson comeback difficult.

"We started really well, then we kind of slowed down," sophomore forward Katie Gates said.

Although Harvard's shooting went from 38.5 percent before halftime to 29 percent after, the Crimson did improve its offensive output, scoring 34 points before the final buzzer.

"Toward the end, it was a really good effort by the whole team to salvage what we could," Gates said. "They were very fast, very athletic. I think our whole team and our coach thinks we could have given them a better game than they did."

Monti had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in the losing effort. Senior guard Courtney Egelhoff added 11 points and four boards.

Freshman guard Breehan Kelley had 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Junior Melissa Johnson, playing her first game in a Crimson jersey, scored eight points while grabbing 9 rebounds, four of which were off the offensive glass.

"I'm just so excited to be in the competitive atmosphere directly again," said Johnson, who transferred from North Carolina.

Stephanie Whitmore and Shawnta Johnson, two players the Ladyjacks are hyping as potential All-America candidates, scored 21 and 19 points, respectively. Whitmore, a guard, also had 11 rebounds.

The Crimson shot 33.3 percent from the field, 18.5 percent from beyond the arc and 58 percent at the line. The Ladyjacks fared much better, shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from the three-point line and 61 percent from the line.

Harvard was outrebounded 50-40, including 20-16 on the offensive glass.

Harvard 69, Texas-San Antonio 67 (OT)

Monti, who played 42 of 45 minutes versus Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) on Saturday, still had enough energy left in the waning seconds of overtime to put the game away for the Crimson.

With the game tied 67-67, she wanted the ball in her hands.

"I was actually remarkably calm," Monti said. "It was a tie game at the point, so if I had missed we would have had another shot. I would rather have the game on my shoulders to win or lose."

With about 11 seconds left she did. Monti, dribbling at the perimeter, made her move, driving the baseline for a finger roll lay-up.

"Jen had this look in her eye," Johnson said. "I stepped aside and she went up and I knew it was going in."

Monti herself was a little more unsure.

"It was deep on the baseline and I sort of threw it up and it was in," she said.

With 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock, the Roadrunners got a pass off to a guard who was freed by a back screen. She got a shot off, but it was an airball.

"One of our mantras is: 'Do not celebrate early, ever,'" Johnson said.

Earlier in the game, the Crimson jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead before letting the Roadrunners claw back.

Sturdy made it back just in time for the game.

A finalist for the Mitchell Fellowship, which sponsors study in Ireland, she had interviews Friday night and Saturday morning in Washington, D.C.

She got into San Antonio at 5:30 for the 8 p.m. game.

"I just changed and went to the gym," Sturdy said.

She scored 18 points in the game and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Crimson in both categories.

"I guess there wasn't any point in going to San Antonio for nothing," she said.

Freshman Kate Ides was the only other player in double figures for the Crimson, scoring 10 points to go along with seven rebounds.

The Crimson players said they consider the weekend a successful one despite the loss. The games gave Harvard the chance to work on its 2-3 zone defense, which it used for the large majority of both games.

"[Coach] Kathy [Delaney-Smith] is really happy with it so I think it's going to be one of our primary defenses," Sturdy said.

"We were happy about some of the things we did out there in terms of defense," Egelhoff said. " I think the whole team is really focused on defense."

The Crimson found its lineup to be bigger at almost all positions against the two Texas teams. The difficulty came in keeping up with the athleticism of its opponents, especially in the frontcourt.

Another test comes tomorrow when the Crimson hosts Boston University.