MIT Holds Off Radcliffe Rally

The post-exam blues plagued the Radcliffe basketball team last night, as the cagers lost their first game of the spring semester to MIT, 39-38 at the IAB.

Despite last second heroics by freshman Hildy Meyers, the squad dropped its fifth game in nine regular season tries. "You can't expect a lot of poise after a long layoff," coach Mark Haverland said after the game.

MIT led throughout the contest. After just seven minutes, Radcliffe was down 10-2. But a seven point deficit was cut to five when junior Denise Thal hit an 18-ft jumper at the first half buzzer, and Radcliffe trailed, 21-16.

Costly second half Radcliffe turnovers helped MIT build a 37-30 lead with just four minutes to play. Meyers then scored the next four points, but missed a foul shot with only two minutes left.

Lynne Richardson scored from underneath moments later to give MIT a 39-34 lead. After a Radcliffe turnover, MIT began a semi-stall, but tough defense forced an off-balance shot by MIT and sophmore Cathy Fulton pulled down a strong rebound.

After a brief exchange, Meyers went to work again. Her layup after an offensive rebound narrowed the gap to three points, and Radcliffe regained hope.

The next move was obvious, at least to the crowd. Thal ignored chants to foul an MIT player and instead stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup. MIT led, 39-38, with just 32 seconds left.

Travelling seemed to be a common indiscretion last night. MIT's Sheila Lustes walked with the ball with nine seconds left, but the Radcliffe rally later fell short. The game ended with a loose ball bouncing around in front of the Radcliffe bench.

"I thought the refs stunk," Meyers said after the game, "but I don't want to blame it all on them."

But not all Crimson teams had the post-exam blues. The Radcliffe J.V. cagers remained underfeated with a 77-23 trouncing of MIT yesterday.