Like most of the Crimson's opponents this year, the Spartanettes are an athletic bunch. They repeatedly beat Harvard players to loose balls, beat Harvard defenders on baseline moves and beat Harvard down court on fast breaks. Close to one quarter of the Spartanettes' points came off Harvard turnovers.
"I think we didn't respect them at all," Delaney-Smith said. "They beat us to deflected balls, to deflected rebounds, to blocked shots. When the ball was up in the air, they came up with it."
The Spartanettes' peskiness paid off, as they went to the locker room at halftime trailing by just one point, 32-31.
That was as close as it would get the rest of the way, however. The Crimson opened the second half on fire, mounting a 16-3 run after the intermission.
Once again Feaster was the arsonist. Norfolk State senior center Selena Edward blocked Miller's shot to open the half, but Feaster grabbed the loose ball and powered her way inside for an easy lay-in.
Edward responded with a jumper in the lane on the other end, but Feaster scored Harvard's next bucket on a lob from Miller to put the Crimson up three, 36-33. On Harvard's next trip down-court, Feaster hit a three-pointer from the right corner.
One minute later, with Harvard leading 39-34, the co-captain rebounded her own missed shot and laid it in, oblivious to a hack from Norfolk State's Ramona Jackson. After the made free throw, the second-half tally was Feaster 10, Norfolk State 3.
The Spartanettes hung around until the end, partly because Harvard's reserves were unaccustomed to the Spartanettes' style of play, but Harvard maintained a comfortable lead for most of the second half.
Despite the win, Harvard's players cannot be nearly as pleased with Saturday's opener as with their victory over Loyola yesterday.
"We have to play more confidently," Feaster said. "That's going to come from within. We have to want to win, and we have to want to win by playing the way we know how to play."
Notes
In the consolation match, Central Connecticut (1-2) topped Norfolk State, 81-62. The Blue Devils held a 37-36 lead at halftime, but they pulled away in the second, paced by the scoring efforts of All-Tournament junior Vicki Guarneri (22 points) and sophomore Dianne Warner (20 points).
Loyola took the opener of the Invitational, 67-44 over Central Connecticut. The sloppy game was over before it started, as the Greyhounds opened with a 14-2 run to put the game away. The Blue Devils scored just 16 points in the first half.
Feaster was presented with two sets of flowers before Harvard's opening game Saturday to honor her setting the team's all-time scoring mark. The first was from her parents, and the other was from Tammy Butler '95, whose record Feaster broke.
A scout from the WNBA's New York office was on hand to witness Feaster's 39-point performance in yesterday's win over Loyola.