Penn had to commit three fouls on the inboundsbefore putting Harvard in the bonus, and Millerwas sent to the line for a one-and-one with eightseconds left. Miller missed the front end,igniting a wild scramble for the ball. Caramanicoappeared to haul it down, but Russell flicked itout of her hands, secured possession and drew afoul.

"I got luck in terms of where I was," Russellsaid. "I was feeling aggressive the whole game. Alot of times the ball would bounce my way or Iwould sit on a rebound or a box-out way too longbefore getting the ball, and that was one opportunitywhere I really had to go get it, and that felt good."

Russell hit the first free throw to put the Crimsonup two. She missed the second and Penn guard ErinLadley pushed the ball upcourt, but Monti blockedher midcourt heave to preserve the win. Theblock--the second in Monti's career--was riskyconsidering Ladley would have gotten three freethrow attempts had a foul been called, but theplay was emblematic of the emotional gusto withwhich Monti played the entire game.

"She shot from so low, the ball was barely outof her hands," said Monti, whose stat lineincluded nine points, 11 assists, six rebounds andtwo steals along with the block. "She wasn'tterribly in control and she wasn't really fallingeither, so I just kept my hand at a distance andshe came into me. I wouldn't have taken such arisk if I thought I might foul. My body wasn'tthere, it was really just my hand, and she cameinto me."

Harvard's late-game heroics rescued the Crimsonfrom a loss that would have effectively knockedit out of the league championship race. Aftertaking a 35-33 advantage into halftime, theQuakers padded their lead throughout the firsthalf of the second. A foul-line jumper by junior guardMandy West gave Penn its largest lead, 57-49, with 8:37 to go.

Although Harvard was prepared defensively forWest--who had 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting--andCaramanico, last season's Ivy League Rookie of theYear, it was the play of Ladley and Allen thatperhaps made the difference.

Ladley, who poured in 13 points and grabbed sixrebounds, was a Viking from beyond the arc,hitting 3-of-5 from distance. Allen, a giant at6'3, scored 10 points largely by floatingfoul-line jumpers over her defenders.

"I was impressed with the way the other [Penn]players stepped up," Russell said. "We were reallyexpecting just to have to guard [West and Caramanico]."

Harvard's defense made the adjustment in thesecond, holding Ladley and Allen to seven pointsafter the break. Meanwhile, Janowski began toassert herself on the offensive end.

The 6'2 senior scored eight of Harvard's 10points over a stretch of 3:15 midway through thesecond on a variety of shots--transition lay-up,dribble-drive move from the foul line, rebound andput back. Harvard narrowed the deficit onlyslightly during Janowski's scoring binge, butthe need to focus on the blocks freed up Harvard'sshooters and presented the Quakers with a classichigh-low dilemma that ultimately sealed Penn'sfate.

"When we run in transition, we're hard to beat,especially if we're hitting from the outside,"Monti said. "It really forces them to come out[defensively], which opens up the inside for Rose[Janowski] and Sarah [Russell]. We didn't hit asmuch as we should have today, but when we did theygot great looks."

Princeton 55, Harvard 42

Like their maddeningly deliberate brethren, thePrinceton women might be described as theM-E-T-H-O-D team. The Tigers run the mostcomplicated offense Delaney-Smith's team has facedthis season, but the Crimson seemed up to the taskof defending it.

Harvard held Princeton to 35.1 percent shootingfrom the floor, including a truly embarrassing2-of-21 from three. The Tigers did not hit theirfirst shot from distance until senior forwardJulie Angell nailed the first of her game-sealingBack-to-back threes with 3:38 to go.

"To stop Princeton's offence is entirelyopposite your instincts," Delaney-Smith said. "Ifyou are on the weak side and you jump to the balllow, that's when they hit you with back screens orcut backdoor on you. You have to work a lotdefensively to jump at the correct angles, oryou're going to get screwed.