Women Hoopsters Rally To Top Williams Squad

The women's hoopsters do not believe in moderation. Friday night they lost to nationally ranked Villanova by 40 points. Saturday afternoon they came back to beat Williams College by nearly the same margin, 85-47. There is a phrase, "feast or famine...."

Fans who collected in the IAB Saturday afternoon saw anything but a typical rout, though a rout it was. The game was exciting, often sloppy, and even occasionally dazzling, regardless of what the scoreboard was recording. If there is such a thing as karma, it resides in the righthand basket of the IAB. At least for the cagers.

The cagers' victory was never really in doubt. Williams, in its first outing of the season, was outclassed in speed, size, experience, sharpness--and their best player, senior Laurene vonKlan, fouled out early in the game through sheer overexuberance. With vonKlan went all of Williams' hopes for victory.

Despite favorable odds, Harvard still couldn't seem to do anything right at first. Playing an aggressive full-court press, the cagers repeatedly extracted the ball from a bewildered Williams offense, brought it down the court, and failed to convert into buckets. Williams' 1-3-1 zone left a large doughnut hole inside the key, which a timid Crimson offense refused to penetrate, opting instead for wild outside shots.

Converting only 24 per cent from the floor and even less from the line, the hoopsters still managed to leave the court at halftime with a comfortable 37-20 lead.

In a style that has become all their own, the Harvard cagers reemerged for the second half a team transformed. The same starting five marched out and connected for 20--yes, 20--unanswered points, leading many to suspect the residence of karma in the new home basket. The myth of the impenetrable Williams zone was exploded as the quintet of Elaine Holpuch, Franessa Hall, Kate Martin, Marget Long and Pat Horne drove in for bucket upon bucket, gathering bushels of rebounds as they went.

The second half proved a veritable showcase for hoopster talent, old and new. Veterans Holpuch and Hall each popped in 12 points, while unstoppable point guard Martin stole, streaked, faked and flipped in a game high 19 points.

But two relative unknowns, however, stole the show. Forwards Rose Guarino and Denise Williamson, moved up from J.V. last year, outplayed anyone on the court, demonstrated poise, tenacity and heads-up ball as they got to play most of the second half.

Guarino could be Harvard's answer to less-than-stellar rebounding, as she contributed more than her share of the Crimson's game total of 52. Williamson played consistently strong defense, and fearlessly penetrated the spotty Williams defense.