WORCESTER--With 4:36 left in the first half of the Harvard women's basketball game against La Salle Saturday night, freshman guard Breehan Kelley lofted a pass to sophomore point guard Jen Monti.

But the pass was too high for the 5'6 Monti to handle as it bounced out of bounds for a turnover, and the play was indicative of a problem plaguing the Crimson over the weekend.

Even though a lot of things went right in Harvard's two games at the ECAC Holiday Festival, and even though the team showed signs of the talent that helped it beat Ohio State earlier this season, the Crimson lost its cool when the games began to heat up.

Getting careless as Holy Cross and La Salle applied defensive and offensive pressure, Harvard lost control of basketball fundamentals.

Harvard's tendency to break down gave Holy Cross a win on Friday night and almost gave La Salle a win the next day in the consolation game of the tournament.

In its 89-61 loss to Holy Cross, the Crimson was leading by one point with 11:46 left in the game following a three-pointer by Kelley before the team completely fell apart as the Crusaders went on a 38-9 run the rest of the way.

It was a combination of inexperience and fatigue that seemed to keep the team from playing at its top level.

And at least in part because of these factors, the Crimson's play was inconsistent--while some of the more complex parts of its triangle offense came together, some of the basics such as passing and lay-up shooting fell by the wayside.