It looked good at the start.

Playing an undefeated University of Vermont squad, the Harvard women's basketball team looked confident early on, holding an 8-2 lead after the opening minutes of play.

Then it got ugly.

Taking advantage of Harvard's 29 turnovers and 38 percent shooting, the Catamounts regrouped and proceeded to roll easily over the Crimson, 79-60.

The Catamounts extended their unbeaten streak to five. The loss dropped Harvard to 3-5.

Vermont captured its first lead at 6:30 of the first half. A three point field goal by junior guard Jennifer Niebling put the Catamounts on top 11-10.

From there, Vermont never looked back.

The Catamounts' pesky, in-your-face defense and intense physical play made up for its lack of height, throwing the Crimson out of synch.

"I'm really pleased," Vermont Coach Cathy Inglese said. "Our defense gave us momentum for our offense. We executed very well."

Throughout the game, Harvard had trouble feeding the ball into the low post. Vermont defenders wreaked havoc on Crimson playmakers Maura Healy and Nikole Cronk, forcing Harvard's offense away from the basket.

While Vermont displayed impressive defense, Harvard also made many unforced errors throughout the contest.

Fast-break passes grazed off fingertips or flew out of bounds.

Often, the ball bounced off a Harvard foot and out of play.

"We didn't play well at all," Co-Captain Heather Harris said. "Turnovers were obviously a problem. We weren't rebounding as well as we could have, and our shooting was off."

On several occasions, junior Debbie Flandermeyer was left stranded with the ball. The center would pull down a rebound, and no outlet pass would be open.