If one game has ever defined a season for an athletic team, it did so on the night of March 14, 1998 for Harvard women's basketball.

For two hours on that balmy Saturday evening in California, Harvard (23-5, 12-2 Ivy) mesmerized a national television audience--the first in Harvard women's basketball history--thrilled its fans, shocked the dominant power in women's collegiate basketball and upended the college game.

The Crimson traveled to Palo Alto as the 16th seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament to face the No. 1-seeded and fifth-ranked Stanford Cardinal on its home court in the first round.

This was the Cardinal who won two national championships, in 1990 and 1992; the Cardinal who had made 10 consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances, three straight Final Four appearances and six Final Four appearances in the last eight years; the Cardinal who had never exited an NCAA Tournament in the first round since Coach Tara Van-Derveer assumed leadership in 1981; the Cardinal who had won 59 consecutive games on its home floor at Maples Pavilion--Stanford's seniors had never lost a game at Maples.

Record: 23-5, 12-2 Ivy

Coach: Kathy Delaney-Smith

Highlights: Wins third straight league title; defeats top-seeded Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament; Allison Feaster named Kodak All-American

Seniors: Megan Basil, Sarah Brandt, Allison Feaster, Karun Grossman, Alison Seanor

And they squared off against a Harvard Crimson team who was making only its third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament; the same Crimson that had lost its two previous tournament games by an average of 21 points; the same Crimson no one paid any attention to, including Stanford.

That was the Cardinal sin.

Led by a dominant 35-point, 13-rebound effort from co-captain and Kodak All-American Allison Feaster, Harvard became the first 16th seed in the history of the men's or women's NCAA Tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed, stunning Stanford to the tune of a 71-67 upset in front of a live television audience on ESPN. With one night's work, Harvard entered the realm of prime-time college athletics behind an emphatic and deafening charge whose effects are still resonating nearly three months later and probably will continue to do so for many months to come.

"It was an incredible experience," said co-captain Megan Basil. "It was something that we and the world of women's basketball will never forget. It was amazing to be a part of it."

The Crimson's accomplishment cannot be overstated. Simply put, it made national history. Even if another 16 seed comes along one day and duplicates the feat, Harvard was still the first. Moreover, the likelihood of another non-scholarship school matching the Crimson's achievement is slim, at best.

"[Beating Stanford] gave me a glimpse of what big-time basketball is all about," Miller said. "A lot of us passed up scholarships to some pretty good schools to come to Harvard, and maybe we could have experienced this before, but there's nothing like experiencing it with the Harvard basketball team, especially because we play for the love of the sport."

Aside from its historical significance, however, Harvard's victory elicited the type of reaction seldom evoked by a sporting event, especially here in Cambridge. Thousands of students gathered around any television set they could find in the wee hours of the morning on March 15, 1998--the game began shortly after 9 p.m. Western Time, midnight on the East Coast--to watch their women's basketball team make history.

And when the game ended just after 2 a.m. in Cambridge, undergraduates of all types--from the avid sports aficionado to the sports illiterate who had only wanted to watch someone from his or her house on television--poured into the streets in celebration. Students hugged and celebrated together. And for one night, the Harvard women's basketball team had united a campus in a fashion more reminiscent of the camaraderie that surrounded the student takeover of University Hall in 1969 than that of the typical Harvard sporting event.

As athletic contests go, only the Harvard-Yale Game comes close to creating the bond between such a diverse student body as the women's basketball team's accomplishment did. But not since the early part of the 20th century when the gridders could still vie for a national title has The Game approached the significance of The Upset.

"It is amazing that now, months later, people still congratulate us," Basil said. "I hope people will look back at that moment and remember that feeling. I hope there are more experiences here in the future, not just sporting events, that bring people together like that."

But Harvard's historic win did not come easily. Despite an impressive 9-2 pre-conference record and a third consecutive outright Ivy League Championship--the first Ivy team ever to win three consecutive outright titles--the Crimson was given a 16 seed for the second straight year. And despite leading by as many as 12 points in the first half versus Stanford, Harvard found itself trailing by three with under three minutes to play, and it seemed as though the Crimson's threat of an upset would remain just that--a threat.

But two spectacular defensive plays by Feaster and two clutch buckets from junior co-captain-elect Suzie Miller helped Harvard end the game on a 9-2 run and oust the Cardinal from the post-season. The run began when, after a missed shot by Feaster, Stanford sophomore point guard Milena Flores grabbed the rebound and fired a pass upcourt to Honorable Mention AP All-American Olympia Scott, who would have had an uncontested lay-up at the other end that would have put Stanford ahead by five.

But Feaster, who had missed her shot from the left baseline, sprinted after Scott and leaped high in the air to snare the ball and keep the score at 65-62. After a lay-up by Feaster pulled Harvard within one, Miller followed a Stanford miss with an off-balance 16-foot runner at 1:32 to give Harvard the lead for good.

But Miller outdid herself 46 seconds later by knocking down the greatest shot of the season--and arguably in the history of Harvard basketball--with Harvard still nursing its slim 66-65 lead. Off of a missed three-pointer by Flores, Feaster grabbed the rebound and rifled a pass upcourt to freshman point guard Lisa Kowal, who found Miller all alone in the left corner. Miller caught and shot, burying the trifecta that extended Harvard's lead to 69-65 and sent the outnumbered Harvard contingent into a frenzy.

"I remember turning and looking at my teammates down the bench [when Miller hit that shot], and everyone was in shock," Basil said. "I froze for a second and thought, `We're actually going to do this."

"I will never forget the looks on everyone's faces. I have never experienced that feeling before, and I highly doubt I will ever have thatfeeling again," she said.

Stanford raced the ball quickly into thefrontcourt in the hopes of responding to Miller'strey, but it was not to be. Scott received a passin the low post and attempted to penetrate intothe lane, but Feaster swiped the ball cleanly fromScott's hands to prevent any Stanford heroics.After a couple of Harvard game-sealing freethrows, one final lay-up by Stanford and somedesperation misses by the Cardinal, the finalbuzzer sounded and Harvard's players and coachesrushed onto the court in an exuberant display ofelation and disbelief.

"I literally had dreamt about the celebration,"Miller said. "We were in the locker room after thegame talking about what we had just done, and itstill staggers my mind. We're a team of history."

The victory over Stanford was merely theculmination of the greatest season in Harvardbasketball history. The team's 23 victories arethe most ever by a Harvard basketball team, men'sor women's, and continued a home winning streak atLavietes Pavilion that dates back to the 1996-97season and currently stands at 22 games, fullyintact for next year's squad to build upon.

It was also an historic and record-settingseason for Feaster. The All-American and ECACPlayer of the Year broke a slew of records enroute to capturing Harvard's first-ever nationalscoring title with a 28.5 points-per-game average.She became Harvard's all-time leading scorer andrebounder after entering the season as theschool's career leader in assists, and shegraduates as the Ivy League's all-time leadingscorer (2,312) and second-leading rebounder(1,134).

Feaster was a unanimous selection for IvyLeague Player of the Year--her third consecutiveleague Player of the Year award--making her thefirst Harvard athlete, male or female in anysport, to win Ivy Rookie of the Year honors as afreshman and Player of the Year honors in each ofthe next three years. And on April 29, Feaster wasdrafted fifth overall in the first round of theWNBA draft, and she will be showcasing her skillsat the professional level this summer for the LosAngeles Sparks.

Harvard's win over Stanford also marked themoment of redemption for a lack of respect thatthe Crimson had complained it received throughoutthe past two years. The Crimson proved, as it hadoften claimed, that it did not deserve the 16 seedit was awarded, and Harvard showed the nation thatthe Ivy League can compete at the highest levelsof women's college basketball.

"For the Ivy League to get the recognition itdeserved, we knew we had to win a game, and itcouldn't just be a fluke," Miller said. "We playedwell all game, and we showed we were a team. Youcan't even describe it with words. Until the day Idie, that win will bring me joy."

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."Associated PressGRAB BAG: Senior ALISON SEANOR triesto snare a loose ball.