Friars Fry Hoopsters, 77-43

Spectators at last night's women's basketball game against Providence will swear they saw not one, but two entirely different games in the course of the evening. The cagers left the court with a 77-43 loss, demoting their season record to 1-5 in one of the most remarkable flip-flop matches ever.

Harvard started out strong, staying up with Providence basket for basket and playing a solid, effective 1-3-1 zone defense. The starting lineup of Nancy Boutillier, Kate Martin and Pat Horne at point guard, forward Marget Long and center Elaine Holpuch offered just the right mixture of height, speed, shooting ability and defensive expertise to keep up with a touch Providence squad, last year's ECAC champions. Coach Carole Kleinfelder had the good sense to leave the same quintet in for most of the first half, interchanging Ann Scannell occasionally for Martin.

No Big Deal

The first half was nothing spectacular, characterized by slow play, rampant stealing, turnovers by both sides and low shooting percentages that led to a 26-24 halftime lead for the Friars.

What happened during the halftime break nobody knows, but when the game reconvened it was an entirely different Crimson team that took the floor. After a 20-minute delay, a malfunctioning scoreboard and time clock replaced by a manual chalkboard and little red signs to signal fouls and timeouts, imbuing the game with a nostalgic, high-school atmosphere, the second half and the Friar dominance started.

Holding Pattern

Harvard, erringly rearranged into a man-to-man defense, could not keep up with the fleet-footed Friars and saw the two-point margin expand rapidly. After only five minutes of play, the cagers were suddenly down by ten, after ten minutes down by 20.

Providence tightened its original 1-2-2 zone and effectively boxed out the cagers (forcing them to take long, wild outside shots), capitalizing on its superior height under the boards for the rebounds. The Friars began to shoot, too, dunking in 51 points, twice their first half tally, and not missing a shot from the line.

Break Away

At one point, Providence got a break-away scoring opportunity, missed the lay-up and got five, six, even seven chances before the ball finally went in. An alarmed Kleinfelder switched back to her 1-3-1 defense, but it was too late. By now 25 points behind, Harvard all but conceded defeat, and sent out its bench to ride out the fiasco.

Bad Taste

While the hoopsters lost big, they again left a disturbing feeling that they should have done much better, and were eminently capable of beating this Providence squad. Holpuch had another fine evening; moving well through the key and sinking clutch inside shots.

Marget Long pumped in eight straight points in the first half to spark Harvard's offense, and was inexplicably benched for the second half. Scannell and Horne continue to play dazzling defense and solid, dependable play-making, and the second-half appearance of newcomer Janet Judge brought fresh vitality to the ailing cager offense. Judge popped in eight points in as many minutes and could become a tremendous scoring asset for the hoopsters.