Dartmouth then hit a quick shot and fouled, sending Basil to the line once again with seven seconds to play and a three-point edge. The veteran leader showed her typical poise, even in a clutch situation, and hit both shots to close out the scoring.

"I was so nervous because [Dartmouth] had make so many threes," Basil said.

Feaster finished with a game-high 36 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Miller added 11 points, four rebounds and one steal. Basil had six points, four assists and two steals.

Senior guard Alison Seanor had another strong all-around effort finishing with six points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Harvard also continued to get excellent production from the other for HARVARD  74 DARTMOUTH  69

ward spot. Russell and classmate Rose Janowski combined for 13 points and 11 rebounds.

"I think we have veterans, and I think we have kids who can do it," Delaney-Smith said. "Suzie Miller was terrific. Alison Seanor started to do defensively what the whole team should have been doing."

Harvard overcame a combination of poor shooting by its players and torrid shooting by Dartmouth in the first half. The Big Green converted 50 percent of its shots-- compared to the Crimson's 37 percent--to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room at intermission.

"This was our weakest defensive game in a long time," Delaney-Smith said. "I thought we were incredibly unaggressive on defense. This better be our wake-up call. What we pride ourselves on is our defense, and it wasn't here tonight.

"I thought we were lucky to win this game. We played at a frantic level. We're better than this, and I expected us to have done a much better job."

Harvard's defense looked more sluggish than it has in the past, but the Crimson did a good job in the second half against what is arguably the best backcourt in the Ivy League. Senior Bess Tortolani, junior Nicci Rinaldi and sophomore Courtney Banghart combined for 35 points in the game, but only 12 of those came in the second period.

"I think we picked it up a little bit more defensively in the second half," Miller said.

"We're playing for the Ivy League title here, and we know every team is going to play like Dartmouth played," Feaster said. "We have to step our game up and not play to their level."

Holiday Action

Harvard played three games over the holiday break and came away with two victories and one heart-breaking loss. On December 16 the Crimson cruised to a 63-48 victory over Northeastern at Cabot Gym.

One week later Harvard traveled to South Carolina to face the University of South Carolina and Wofford College in a homecoming for Feaster, who is a native of Chester, S.C.

The Crimson fell to the Lady Game-cocks, 72-69, after several shots missed the mark in the waning seconds of the contest. Harvard's 26 turnovers led to 30 South Carolina points, and Annie Lester scored 31 points to pace the Lady Gamecocks.

Harvard blew Wofford away two days later, 87-67, as every player on the Crimson's roster saw significant minutes. Senior Karun Grossman scored 11 points in the game with a perfect four-of-four shooting performance. Foster led Harvard over the holiday with combined totals of 80 points, 24 rebounds, 10 assists and nine steals.