Despite All the Snows, the Tourney Still Goes

Despite the continuing state of emergency in Cambridge, the fourth annual Ivy League Women's Basketball Championships finished its semifinal round yesterday at the IAB, and to no one's surprise, the final will feature a Princeton-Yale duel.

The tournament that had been postponed, shortened to two days and cut back to six teams (Cornell and Barnard could not make the trip) followed the seedings carefully, with the top two seeds gaining today's 2 p.m. championship showdown.

For Harvard, the tournament started off on a positive note with a Saturday night victory over Pennsylvania, 73-65. Sophomore center Leslie Greis replayed her performance against Penn in the 1977 Ivy League Tournament as she pumped in 26 points to lead the Crimson offerise.

Last year in Philadelphia, Greis, then a freshman making her first varsity start with Harvard, came on in the opening round of the tournament to shock host Penn with 29 points, leading Harvard to a 62-53 win.

This year, Greis, who has seen limited playing time this season, made it look even easier, playing the low-post position to perfection. She got help from forward Wendy Carle who poured in 20 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Carle's continuously aggressive play and a strong all-round contribution from floor general Caryn Curry worked to wear down a persistent Quaker team that hung tough through most of the first half.

Pennsylvania relied on the sure shooting of their high-scoring forward, Carol Kuna, who is averaging 14 points per game this season.

It was Carle, Curry and Greis teaming up late in the first half and early in the second to put things away for Harvard. But after a good night's sleep, Harvard's hopes came to an abrupt end with the entrance of the top-seeded Tigers.

In last year's Ivy finals, the two-time champion Tigers fed on the 1977 Cinderella-story Crimson with a 67-43 victory. This year, it looked as though the three-time winners from New Jersey would enjoy the same Harvard feast as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead just six minutes into the game. Princeton's two powerhouse scorers, C.B. Tomasiewicz and Jackie Jackson were doing the heavy offensive work. Both players have scored over 1000 career points and are averaging 18.9 and 20.3 points per game, respectively.

From the outside, Tomasiewicz was blisteringly hot, going without a miss for the first 15 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the Harvard attack remained lackadasical throughout the first half, falling to a 35-19 deficit at halftime.

Crimson coach Carole Kleinfelder shook up the Harvard line-up, turning to her big players to combat Princeton's strong-rebounding squad. With Sue Hewitt, Sue Aboucher and Greis joining Curry and Carle, the Harvard five roared back to within eight points. At 13:54, Leslie Greis hit a turnaround jumper to close the score to 41-33, but that was the end of the Harvard dream. The effort was too little, too late.

Costly turnovers by the Harvard ballhandlers and the superhuman efforts of Tomasiewicz (20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 6 assists) buried the Crimson. Center Margaret Meier added 14 points to the Princeton attack, as with 3:38 to go in the game, she put in the 1001st point of her career. The finish was all orange and black, as the Tigers ran away with a 70-56 win.

Last night, Harvard completed its first consolation game with a 67-42 laugher over Dartmouth. The win moved Harvard into the consolation final against Penn today at noon.

En route to the final, Yale topped Brown in the semifinals, 55-39, paced by the 17-point, game-high effort of freshman forward Lisa Brummel. Both Yale and Princeton received first round byes because of Cornell's and Barnard's failure to show.

Hoop Roundup

4th annual Ivy League Women's Basketball Championships

First-round--Saturday night:

HARVARD 73, Penn 65

Brown 58, Dartmouth 46

Princeton, Yale--byes

Semifinals--Sunday:

Princeton 70, HARVARD 56

Yale 55, Brown 39

Consolation--Sunday:

HARVARD 67, Dartmouth 42

Penn 66, Brown 62

Schedule for today:

10 a.m.--5th place game:

Dartmouth v. Brown

12 noon--Consolation final:

HARVARD v. Penn

2 p.m.--Championship final:

Princeton v. Yale