W. Hoops Loses Ivy Tune-Up to UNH Over Break

DURHAM, N.H.--For the first 30 minutes, the Harvard women's basketball team appeared to be in control of its Dec. 29th game at New Hampshire.

Despite turnover problems in the first half, the Crimson was able to build a 46-39 lead with 9:45 to go in its final warm-up for the Ivy League season.

But in the end, Harvard was done over by its inability to overcome the UNH press and stop Wildcat guard Heidi Plencner. The Crimson (6-5) was outscored 20-4 over the final 5:26, and ended up losing by a score of 70-58 to the Wildcats (5-5).

"We have all the symptoms of a young team," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "We do things I don't think as coach I can predict. I think [UNH] has kids that have played more together as a unit, and it showed at crunch time."

The Crimson will have to grow up fast as it faces a tough test today with its first Ivy contest against Dartmouth in a game that will be broadcast on DirecTV.

It took the Wildcats less than three minutes to dissolve the 7-point Crimson lead. Plencner, who had 19 points on the day, drained three-pointers on three consecutive possessions in the midst of an 11-4 UNH run that tied the score at 50-50.

Harvard appeared unfazed in the moments after UNH tied the score. Junior center Melissa Johnson found sophomore forward Katie Gates underneath for an easy layup, which gave the Crimson the lead again.

After UNH missed its next shot, Harvard captain Laela Sturdy hit a bank shot in the paint and was fouled, putting the Crimson up 54-50 with a chance to stretch the lead to five.

But then UNH called timeout and iced Sturdy at the line. After she missed the free throw, everything began to go wrong for the Crimson.

Harvard suddenly found itself unable to handle the tight Wildcat press that allowed UNH to go on a 9-0 run, highlighted by another three from Plencner.

"I thought my team tightened and panicked instead of stepping it up," Delaney-Smith said. "That pressure should not bother us. We have beaten teams that have done far worse to us."

Freshman guard Bree Kelley hit both shots of a one-and-one to cut the deficit to 59-56, but Plencner continued to be a pain for the Crimson, this time passing the ball off to center Orsi Farkas for a layup with 2:01 remaining.

It appeared that Johnson had countered the UNH score with an open jump shot, but it was called back on a traveling call. Plencner then hit a 15-foot jump shot to put UNH up 63-56 with 1:25 left, effectively sealing the game for the Wildcats.

The story of the game was the turnovers. In the first half the Crimson turned the ball over 16 times, while forcing only eight. The turnovers were mainly due to forced passes underneath on the offensive end.

Wildcat guard Kiki Proctor also caused great frustration to Crimson sophomore guard Jenn Monti. For the game, Proctor had four steals. UNH as a team had 19 steals compared to just five for Harvard.

"[Turnovers] are a nemesis for this team," Delaney-Smith said. "We've worked so hard, but 16 first-half turnovers won't win us any ball games."

Harvard still managed to overcome its miscues in the first half. Three minutes into the game Monti, after turning the ball over to Proctor, showed great hustle in beating her back to the other side of the net, forcing her to redirect her shot, a play that elicited loud cheers from the Crimson bench.

Harvard's 26-25 first-half lead was mainly due to its defense, which forced UNH into shooting only 32.1 percent from the floor. The Crimson also outrebounded the Wildcats 23-10, a vast improvement from its abysmal effort in its previous game against Northeastern.

But in the end, the missed opportunities in the first half proved costly, as Harvard was never able to pull away from UNH, despite shooting an excellent 61.5 percent from the floor in the second half.

The Wildcats were unable to stop Crimson center Melissa Johnson underneath. Johnson led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Gates added 12 points, including two three-pointers, but committed five turnovers.

Kelley, after a shaky start, managed to be an offensive force for the Crimson. Her 12 points were highlighted by a spectacular 7-foot hook shot that she hit with two players in her face to put Harvard up 40-35 at the time.

"Bree does what I want everybody to do--step it up," Delaney-Smith said. "I didn't see that from all of the five players on the floor when we needed it."

After Plencner started getting hot for UNH, the Crimson offense started to struggle. After watching Plencner drain one three-pointer after another, Harvard seemed to go more for outside shots on its next few possessions instead of relying on its inside dominance. The usually reliable Crimson shooting came up flat when it needed it most.

Also hurtful for Harvard was that it allowed UNH to get the bonus with 10:40 remaining in the second half. Two Crimson players alone committed seven fouls in the four minutes before then, which aided the Wildcat surge.

The Harvard loss wasted a great defensive effort on Farkas, the Wildcat's leading scorer, who was held to 11 points. In the first half, the Crimson held her to only four points, as the defense managed to force UNH into taking difficult outside shots.

"We did a nice job on [Farkas]," Delaney-Smith said. "I think we took away their rhythm, like they took away our rhythm."

Harvard's next game will be against Dartmouth (6-5) at home today. The Big Green beat UNH earlier in the season by a 64-52 score. If Harvard will triumph over in its first Ivy League game the season, it will have to figure out how to protect the ball and step it up during crunch time.