Women Drop Basketball Opener, 73-68

Five points separated the Crimson from victory on Friday night in its season opener against the Saint Peter's Peahens. In a back and forth game in which neither team could establish a significant lead, Harvard (0-1) was unable to withstand a late 12-point run by St. Peter's (1-0) and fell, 73-68.

The Crimson was short five players for the season opener, filling only 10 of its 15 roster spots. Notable by their absence were the co-captains, center Melissa Johnson and guard Kristen Boike, as well as sophomore center Sarah Johnson and junior center Lindsay Ryba. Harvard certainly felt the loss of its three centers, forcing it to play sophomore forward Kate Ides away from her normal position.

The lack of a captain in uniform may also have hurt the Crimson during St. Peter's decisive run, in which the Crimson looked confused on offense and lacked some intensity at the defensive end.

"The defense was better than last week [in practice],"Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "During that run [by St. Peter's in the second half] we needed to step up and stop them, and we didn't."

Freshman forward Hana Peljto posted a double-double for the Crimson, scoring 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting with 10 rebounds and two assists. Peljto lead the Crimson in minutes, points, and rebounds. Sophomore guard Bree Kelley added 15 points and senior guard Lisa Kowal contributed 10.

If the Crimson can take anything positive away from their loss, it is the play of Peljto.

"I saw some really bright moments on offense," Delaney-Smith said. "I think that our future is very bright with Hana."

St. Peter's decisive 12-point run started with 11 minutes to play in the second half. At that point, the Crimson led 44-42. The scoring drive started when 6'3 St. Peter's senior forward Leah Cromer was fouled underneath the basket but scored two points anyway. She missed her free throw, but the game was now tied, 44-44.

Senior guard Courtney Wicks, who gave the Crimson fits all night, then hit a jumper and junior guard Sue Porter followed up with a three-pointer. Wicks then drove to the basket, sank her shot and was fouled. She converted the three-point play to put the Peahens up by eight. Cromer added a bucket to make the score 54-44, and the Crimson, reeling in the midst of a 12-point St. Peter's run, took a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

After the Crimson timeout, junior point-guard Jennifer Monti drained a jumper to stop the Peahen run and the Crimson looked to be back in the ball game. Peahen sophomore center Anna Barthold swung the momentum back in St. Peter's direction, however, drawing a foul on a bank shot and connecting on her free throw. Harvard then trailed 57-46 with just under eight minutes to play.

Peljto, who was the Crimson's brightest offensive spot in the game, hit a layup and then Ides drained a jumper to pull the Crimson within seven with 7:05 left to play.

Harvard got as close as 65-60 with 2:55 remaining and finally narrowed the deficit to three with about a minute left, but a key Crimson turnover with thirty seconds to play forced Harvard to foul St. Peter's immediately in an attempt to catch up.

The last St. Peter's run, which essentially kept the game out of reach for Harvard, came less than five minutes after a 6-0 Harvard run put the Crimson ahead of St. Peter's, 39-38, 6:16 into the second half.

The second half began in much the same way as the first half ended, with Harvard and St. Peter's exchanging leads as each team struggled to overwhelm the other.

Certainly the Crimson's play in the first half was nothing to be proud of, despite the fact that it led 28-27 at halftime. Harvard committed 18 of its 24 turnovers in the first half.

"We can't win against anyone with 18 turnovers in the first half," Delaney-Smith said.