Harvard's season began inconspicuously in WestPoint, N.Y. with a convincing 75-47 victory over aweak Army team. Following an 11-point win againstBoston University, Harvard traveled to the ECACHoliday Festival at Holy Cross where the Crimsonsuffered its first setback of the year, an 81-61loss to the Maryland Terrapins of the ACC.
Harvard rebounded in strong fashion with a68-54 defeat of Mt. St. Mary's before heading intothe Harvard Invitational, which the Crimson hadnot won since 1988. But the 10-year drought cameto an end as Harvard posted identical 69-57 winsover Norfolk State in the first round and Loyola(Md.) in the championship game to capture theInvitational title. Those two wins were the secondand third in a six-game winning streak thatcarried Harvard into winter break and two contestsin South Carolina.
The Crimson dropped a heartbreaker, 72-69, toSouth Carolina on December 19 before bouncing backto drub Wofford two days later, 87-67. The victoryover Wofford began another winning streak, thisone eight games long, that carried Harvard intothe Ivy League season. Routs of Columbia, Cornell,Pennsylvania and Yale were intertwined with afive-point squeaker at home against Dartmouth, andan 86-81 overtime win against Brown.
But the Crimson kept its Ivy record perfect at6-0 as it headed into Princeton to face theTigers. That game saw Princeton's defense--tops inthe nation in points allowed--stifle Harvard'soutside shooters and frustrate the Crimson'sballhandlers for 40 minutes. When it was over, alast-second three-point attempt by Harvardco-captain-elect Sarah Russell was just off themark, and Princeton had ended Harvard's 32-gameIvy winning streak with a 56-53 victory.
"We were a little too over-confident in ourplaying [before the loss to Princeton]," Basilsaid. "It was definitely a wake up call for us. Itwas very disappointing."
Two weeks later, following two more wins atCornell and Columbia, Princeton came into "the LavPav" for a much anticipated rematch. A win by theTigers would have brought them to within one gamebehind Harvard in the chase for the Ivy crown, butthe Crimson had no desire to end its reign atopthe Ancient Eight. Before a crowd of 1,636--thelargest home crowd of the season--Harvard avengedits earlier loss with a 58-52 victory.
The following evening Harvard put on a shootingclinic, connecting on 14 three-pointers to destroyPenn, 98-63, and clinch a share of its thirdstraight and sixth overall Ivy title. Six dayslater the Crimson secured the conferencechampionship outright with a 77-62 win at Yale.But after a 93-76 defeat of Brown in which theCrimson tied a school record by connecting on 16treys, Harvard was upended at Dartmouth in itsfinal regular season game, 78-67. It appeared thatHarvard would enter the NCAA Tournament on a sournote.
But the Crimson put the Dartmouth loss behindit, writing off the lackluster performance inHanover as a meaningless game that did not impactthe season or league standings. Nearly two weeksafter its setback against Dartmouth, Harvardstepped onto the floor at Maples Pavilion with anattitude of defiance and confidence and shockedthe college basketball world.
"We came together as a team [after the loss toDartmouth], and we were completely ashamed of howwe had let ourselves down and let our coach down,"Basil said. "Ultimately, to win or lose that gamedidn't matter, but the fact that we played withthat attitude was very disappointing."
"I think all things happen for a reason,though, and maybe the Dartmouth loss was good forus," she said.
Harvard's five seniors--Feaster, co-captainMegan Basil, Sarah Brandt, Karun Grossman andAlison Seanor--graduate today as the winningestclass in Harvard basketball history. The Class of'98 has posted an overall record of 82-24, an IvyLeague record of 50-6 and a remarkable home Ivymark of 27-1.
A number of underclassmen also gave indicationsthat the future looks bright for Harvard women'sbasketball and that four titles in a row is notout of the question. Miller fortified herself asthe heir-apparent to Feaster as the Crimson'son-the-court leader. Russell and fellow juniorRose Janowski made tremendous strides as strongpost players, and they were joined by sophomoreLaela Sturdy who appears ready to showcase hergorgeous turnaround jumper regularly.
Harvard's sharpshooters continued to drop bombsfrom the perimeter as well, helping Harvard finishthe year ranked second nationally inthree-pointers made per game (7.6). Feaster,Brandt, Basil and Grossman all freely shot thetrey, while sophomore Courtney Egelhoff andfreshman Jill Zitnik emerged as deadly outsideshooters as well. Zitnik, in particular, shot awhopping 82 percent from downtown for the season,and she may be Harvard's best shooting talentsince Erin Maher '93, who is the Ivy League'sall-time leader in three-point field goals.
The most impressive contribution by a freshman,however, came from Kowal. The Honolulu nativesplit time with Basil throughout the season andshowed a high level of poise rare in a rookie. Heroutstanding quickness and ball-handling skills aresure signs of a promising collegiate career. Addthe fact that Harvard will welcome one of itsstrongest recruiting classes in the fall, anddespite graduating the greatest Ivy League women'splayer ever in Feaster, the phrase "four-peat" isbeing thrown around already.
But the magic of the 1997-98 season has yet tofade. The Harvard women's basketball team madehistory this season, brought together a campuswith a thrilling display and impressed individualsfar removed from Harvard basketball.
The Crimson's season ended in the second roundof the NCAA Tournament with an 82-64 loss to FinalFour-bound Arkansas. And with his Lady Razorbacksheaded to the Sweet Sixteen, Arkansas Coach GaryBlair summed up Harvard's memorable season perhapsbetter than anyone else.
"Harvard is the American dream." Blair said."Harvard is the chance for every coach out therein America to realize, `We can.' You gottabelieve, and I'm just as excited for Harvard as Iam for our basketball team."