Anyone who regularly attends Harvard women's basketball games should have noticed a pattern this season. About five minutes into each contest, Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith looks down her bench and summons one, two or all of a trio of players to report to the scorer's table.

Jumping to their feet, the three Harvard hoopsters tear off their warmups and race to check in, awaiting the next stoppage of play for the opportunity to step onto the court and revitalize the Crimson. A few seconds later, they take the floor, replacing their teammates in the lineup, and Harvard has not lost a step.

Senior shooting guard Sarah Brandt, junior forward Sarah Russell and freshman point guard Lisa Kowal represent the Crimson's formidable second wave of attack. They are Harvard's sixth women.

Traditionally, the term "sixth man" has been used to designate a player who consistently is the first to come off the bench for a team and contribute significantly to that squad's success. In the case of the 1997-98 Harvard Crimson, the role of sixth `wo'man is shared by Brandt, Russell and Kowal.

Because they play different positions, these three players are called upon at different times for different purposes. But it has become commonplace to see all three enter a ballgame together.

Brandt is the leader of the trio, both by way of seniority and past experience. Although her caliber of play easily qualifies her as a starter, she has been Harvard's primary sixth player for the past two seasons.

"It's definitely a role that I've decided to accept," Brandt says. "Personally, I decided that that's the role that I love and can do well with and have success at.

"It's an awesome role to have to try and re-energize your team and to know that that's what you have the power to do. As a starter, I might not be able to bring that to the team, so it's a role I've really learned to love this year."

Brandt and Russell refer to themselves as "the enforcers," a title they created to define the specialty of their task. They are content to sit back and observe at the start of the game, but when they step onto the hardwood, they intend to make their presence felt.

"Sarah [Russell] and I fell into the role of being the first people off the bench along with Lisa fairly early in the season," Brandt says. "To get ourselves charged up and mentally ready to go into the game, we decided that out starters have five minutes..."

"They have five minutes," Russell chimes in, "to do whatever they can do. But at 15 minutes, the enforcers are coming in."

"And they're wreaking havoc," Brandt continues. "It's just a way to get us pumped up and feeling confident."

Kowal is the newest member of the bunch, but she has graduated quickly from the ranks of the inexperienced. In only her first year of collegiate basketball, Kowal has averaged 17 minutes a game and contributed enormously to Harvard's third consecutive Ivy League title and NCAA Tournament berth.

And the elder statesmen have gladly welcomed the diaper dandy into their group.

"I've never thought about it," Kowal says. "I don't know if I fit into the role [of enforcer], but I definitely feel like a part of it because [Russell] and [Brandt] at the scorer's table are just like, `Let's do it.'"