"We did a great job, with just three or fourbreakdowns, but we just didn't shut the drive ontop of that in the second half," she added.

Indeed, it is Harvard's offense that mustshoulder the blame for its first home loss to anIvy opponent in recent memory. The Crimson shotjust 28.3 percent from the field and hit only2-of-16 three point attempts.

Harvard has plenty of company. After leadingthe nation in scoring defense a year ago,Princeton ranks seventh in that category thisseason. The Tigers entered the weekend allowingonly 56.6 points per game and is the sole Ivy teamin the top 25.

But it was not for lack of chances that Harvardsuffered. The Crimson took 60 shots in thegame--atypically high for Princeton's defense--andhad numerous clean looks at the basket.

"We got absolutely every shot we wanted,"Delaney-Smith said. "We rushed a couple, we madean adjustment, and then we got gimmes that didn'tgo in."

In the first half, Janowski was the only Cantabwho could get into the scoring column with anyconsistency. She notched six straight points forthe Crimson midway through the period on a 10-footjumper, a lay-up from the right post and anoffensive rebound and putback.

Janowski had 10 points in the half before thePrinceton defense sealed the middle in the game'slater stages. She scored just three in the second.

"They didn't really decide to defend us in thepost until they realized we were scoring so much,"Janowski said. "We didn't take as much advantageof it as we could have. In the second half theydoubled the post, and that frazzled us."

Princeton did not need much offense to takea 25-19 halftime lead, but when it did score, itutilized unmolested drives initiated by the quickfirst steps of Angell, who had 18, and juniorpoint guard Maggie Langlas, who scored 12. Bothplayers seemed to own the baseline throughout thegame, and Harvard was too slow on its rotations tostop them.

"Our first job was to stop the threes, so theonly thing they could go to was the drive,"Janowski said. "We were warned about the drive. Weshould have had a lot better help defense. We didwell in the first half, but in the second half wehad a couple of breakdowns."

The Tigers held a nine-point lead, 34-25, with11:12 left before Harvard-or, more accurately,Monti--started to make things interesting. Firstshe ignited the crowd and her team with a paralyzingcrossover and a jumper from the foul line extendedto bring Harvard within seven.

Two possessions later, Monti looted juniorguard Kate Thirolf in the backcourt, ducked underthe basket, flipped in the lay-up and drew a fouland roars from the 1,500-strong Lavietes Pavilionfaithful. Her free throw made it a four-point gamewith over 10 minutes to play.

"I feel more comfortable with being theleader [than earlier in the season]," said Monti,who score all 14 of her points in the second half."It's hard to come in as a freshman and judge howto lead, whether by example or by talking, and nowthat I'm more comfortable with the system, itbecomes a leadership by example position. I feel alot more comfortable just letting it all go."

A cliche-infested sports article might remarkthat Monti's heroics were too little, too late. AMonti jumper with the shot clock winding downbrought Harvard within three, 41-38, at the 4:11mark, but Angell put the fannies back in theirseats for good with her team's first three of thegame, from the top of the key.

Angell hit her second 1:12 later to give theTigers an insurmountable nine-point advantage.Monti hit two baskets to bring Harvard withinfive, but the remainder of the game was aPrinceton free-throw fest.