Fresh off a Harvard Invitational title, the Harvard women's basketball team takes to the road today for the ECAC Holiday Festival at Holy Cross.

The Crimson (3-2) will face the host Crusaders (4-1) in the first round of the four-team tournament. Game time is 7:30 in Worcester.

La Salle (5-0) and Hartford (3-1) tangle in the other match-up. Saturday, the winners of the games will battle for the title, and the losers will meet for third place.

Harvard enters the tournament on a positive note. The Crimson defeated a small Sacred Heart team 83-50 last Sunday to claim its own tournament. The victory, in which 6'5 junior center Melissa Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, gave Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith her 250th career win.

That title shot was made possible a week ago in the first game of the tournament when the Crimson defeated Ohio State, 66-52, its most important victory of the season so far.

"This past weekend was really good for the [team's] gelling and for really pulling some things together," Johnson said. "We were very excited about beating Ohio State."

"Ideally, the momentum will be carried into this weekend," sophomore forward Katie Gates said.

Upon reviewing the game film, Johnson said, there were still things the Crimson needed to work on.