It wasn't a Picasso, but it was enough.

The Harvard women's basketball team triumphed again last night, defeating Yale 78-64 at Briggs Cage. The win, coupled with Dartmouth's 65-59 loss to Brown, catapulted the Crimson (16-6, 8-2 Ivy) into a first-place tie with the Big Green. Yale  64 Harvard  78

The victory was never in doubt, although Yale kept the game close for much of the first half, leading 16-15 with 9:42 to play.

Harvard went on a 16-7 run over the next six minutes, however, sparked by hot perimeter shooting including three-pointers by Jessica Gelman, Elizabeth Proudfit and Liz Gettelman.

The Crimson lead hovered around 10 to 12 points for the remainder of the half, thanks to a cold-shooting Bulldog team. Yale hit only 11-39 from the field, but managed to stay within striking distance due to scrappy work on the glass.

Yale dominated Harvard on the boards 27-16 for the half, outmuscling the Crimson post players underneath and out-hustling the guards.

Harvard led 37-26 entering the second period, but saw its lead shrink to five, 41-36, when Yale forward Bari Porter sank a jumper three minutes into the half.

The Crimson slowly pushed the margin back to 12 points, 56-44, with ten minutes left. Allison Feaster, Gelman and Gettelman all pumped in threes to lead the surge.

The game was interrupted one minute later by a fire alarm; players, fans, and reporters were forced to vacate Briggs Cage for nearly 15 minutes.

Surprisingly, the alarm had little effect on either team. The Crimson actually played better after the break, outscoring the Bulldogs 18-10 over the next five minutes and extending the lead to 76-58.

Senior captain Tammy Butler, who had been having a tough night until that point, dominated inside, scoring 10 of her 18 points during that point outbreak.

"It gave me confidence to have our guards working so hard to get me the ball inside [down the stretch]," Butler said. "I was rushing my shot [earlier in the game]."

The teams traded baskets for the final three minutes of "garbage time," and when the buzzer sounded Harvard ended up on top 78-64.

For the game Harvard shot 56.4 percent from the field, while Yale hit an abysmal 33.3 percent of its shots. The Crimson was on fire (unlike Briggs Cage) from behind the three point arc as well, connecting on 9-15 attempts.

The Crimson had entered the game hurting; junior guard Amy Reinhard, junior forward Katy Davis, Gelman and Feaster were all either sick or injured. In fact, Reinhard did not dress for the game, although she hopes to play versus Brown.

"We had a week from hell," coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "We never had more than seven players at practice."

The victory was a milestone for the Harvard coach, marking her 100th career Ivy League win.

"I'm very happy that our team didn't look past Yale," Delaney Smith said. "The Yales of the world are almost more dangerous than the Browns. Yale had nothing to lose."

The Brown game tonight will be the biggest test of the season. The Crimson has lost seven straight games to the Bears and has vowed to come out strong with the Ivy League title on the line.

"If we play aggressive defense we can win," Butler said. "We're ready." HARVARD, 78-64 at Briggs Cage Yale  26  38  --  78 Harvard  37  41  --  64

YALE: Demmo 0-4 0-0 0; Offer 3-11 8-9 15; Kalich 9-14 3-7 21; Hardaker 3-13 0-0 6; Williams 1-7 1-2 3; Brandt 3-13 0-0 9; Porter 5-10 0-3 10. TOTAL 24-72 12-21 64.

HARVARD: Butler 8-14 2-6 18; James 0-1 0-0 0; Davis 1-2 0-0 2; Feaster 7-11 2-2 18; Grossman 2-3 0-1 4; Gelman 7-11 1-2 18; Proudfit 2-5 0-0 5; Basil; 0-1 0-1 0; Brandt 2-4 0-0 5; Gettelman 2-3 2-2 8. TOTALS: 31-55 7-14 78.