Heading into its third consecutive NCAA Tournament, the 16th-seeded Harvard women's basketball team looks to do the unprecedented and seemingly impossible--defeat the number one seed.

Saturday night the Crimson (22-4, 12-2 Ivy) travels to Palo Alto to take on the Pac-10 champion, the nation's fifth-ranked team and the West region's number one seed, Stanford Cardinal (21-5, 17-1 Pac-10) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

No 16 seed has ever defeated a number one in either the men's or the women's tournament. Having to make history to advance to the second round, however, wasn't what Harvard had in mind.

With a relatively high Rating Percentage Index (RPI)--Harvard's 75th place in the RPI rankings was higher than seven other tournament qualifiers--the winningest regular season in Harvard history and its third consecutive Ivy League crown, the Crimson expected to garner a 14 or 15 seed.

A disappointing 78-67 loss to Dartmouth in the season finale coupled with the poor reputation of the Ivy League as a basketball conference, however, led to the Crimson being dealt a 16 seed for the second consecutive year.

"We were definitely disappointed at first with the 16 seed. It showed the lack of respect for the Ivy League and our team that the committee had," co-captain Allison Feaster said. "Then we just put it behind us because we knew that we had to focus on Stanford."

In last year's tournament the Crimson faced number one seed North Carolina, and was handed a 78-53 defeat. Now, facing a red-hot Stanford team on its home court, the odds are against the Crimson becoming the first Ivy team to advance past the first round in the women's tournament. Harvard, however, will look to use the valuable experience gained from last year's tournament in preparing for the Cardinal.

"We definitely learned a lot last year when we played North Carolina," senior Alison Seanor said. "We weren't really intimidated, but we weren't confident like we are this year. Now we know a little better what to expect, and what it's like to play a number one team."

Feaster leads Harvard in its quest for the upset. She finished the season leading the nation in scoring--to capture Harvard's first ever national scoring title--averaging 28.2 points per game and ended the year ranked 14th in the country in rebounding with 10.8 boards per contest.

If the Crimson is to stand a chance against the Cardinal, it will need yet another standout performance from its star.

Stanford, however, is sure to focus its defensive efforts on Feaster, so Harvard will need strong performances on of the best of the starting five, including Seanor and co-captain Megan Basil, as well as juniors Suzie Miller and Rose Janowski.

"Stanford knows all about [Feaster] and that she led the nation in scoring," Seanor said. "So they're going to double and triple team her, and force the rest of us to step up."

Seanor is fourth in the Ivies with 3.4 assists per game, while Miller leads the Ancient Eight and is ranked 16th in the nation with a .441 three-point field goal percentage. With most of the Cardinal attention going to Feaster, the Crimson will need other players to create scoring opportunities.

Miller, the Crimson's second-leading scorer, will also be counted on to take some of the pressure off of Feaster on the offensive end of the court. So to will the outside shooting of senior Sarah Brandt and the post play of junior Sarah Russell be crucial to the Crimson's success.

Stopping the Stanford attack, however, will be the Crimson's biggest obstacle. The Cardinal is riding a 15-game winning streak and comes into the tournament having won 19 of its last 20 games. Stanford began the season 2-4, but was without the services of its superstar forward Kristin Folkl during that stretch. Now the Cardinal will be forced into the same situation to finish its season.

Folkl, a second-team All-American and Player ofthe Year candidate, tore the anterior cruciate andmedial collateral ligaments in her left kneeduring practice on Tuesday and will miss the restof the Tournament. The loss of Folkl will clearlyhurt Stanford significantly.