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W. Basketball Bitten by Bulldogs

Mississippi State triumphs at Invite; Harvard tops Wofford

Yesterday's contest was the first of the seasonin which Harvard has not had four players indouble figures. In fact, only Miller scored morethan nine points. Still, there were some qualityperformances by the Crimson.

Janowski finished with a nice stat line ofeight points, nine rebounds, three assists andthree blocks. Sophomore point guard Lisa Kowalscored nine and dished out four assists. Sturdyadded nine points and pair of steals off thebench, and Gates had another solid performancewith eight points and five boards in the role ofsixth man.

"I'm very proud of our effort," Delaney-Smithsaid. "I just come away from this game energizedthat we are going to be a very strong team. Whenwe put it all together we are going to be verystrong."

Perry finished with 17 points, seven rebounds,five assists and four steals for MSU. MeadowOverstreet added 16 points and LaToya Grahampitched a 12-point, 11-rebound exhibition in awinning cause. Jennifer Fambrough had eightpoints, 10 boards and three steals and was votedthe tournament's most valuable player.

Harvard 76, Wofford 72

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The Crimson played about 32 minutes ofexcellent basketball on Saturday, then let theLady Terriers turn a blowout into apressure-cooker.

With fewer than nine minutes remaining in thegame, consecutive buckets by Janowski and freshmanpoint guard Jennifer Monti put Harvard ahead66-48. Janowski drove in from the top of the keyand kissed a shot high off the glass at 8:53.

Monti followed the senior's lead, taking theoutlet pass off a missed Wofford free throw thelength of the court, dribbling behind the back asshe drove the lane and finishing a beautiful movewith a driving lay-up for the 18-point lead.

The Lady Terriers then engaged a full-courtpress, and the Crimson panickeduncharacteristically. Four Harvard turnovers overthe next three minutes helped Wofford to a 10-0run led by freshman forward Nancy Dubuisson's fourpoints and two steals.

"I saw us tighten up and panic," Delaney-Smithsaid. "We made poor decisions with the ball. Welet their press bother us. If I knew why thathappened, I would prevent it."

Harvard was able to regain some composure, andSturdy knocked down a crucial three-pointer with4:11 left to increase the Crimson's lead to 71-62.Harvard, however, was unable to convert its freethrows down the stretch--the team shot a paltry 47percent from the charity stripe for the game--andDubuisson and All-Tournament team honoree JennyNett combined to cut Wofford's deficit to threewith 1:47 left in the game.

Ironically, it was a freshman who stepped upfor the Crimson in crunch time. Gates convertedtwo key lay-ups in the final 1:18 to help Harvardsurvive its own inexperience and Wofford's latecharge. Sturdy added a free throw with 11 secondsremaining to close out the scoring.

"Katie Gates is still consistent and solid as arock," Delaney-Smith said.

Before the stressful conclusion, Harvardcontrolled Saturday's contest behind Miller'sdouble-double and a career day from Kowal. TheCrimson's floor general scored a career-high 12points--including a perfect 3-for-3 fromdowntown--and tied a career-high with sevenassists. She also threw in two steals and evencame up with a key blocked shot down the stretch.

"I just think I stepped in something before Icame," said Kowal of her shooting from beyond thearc. "It was fun; I felt like I could get theball, run and just dish it off really easily."

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