Hoopsters Drop Fourth Straight, 72-43, Look to Stop Losing Streak Tonight

The losing streak that started with a 61-45 embarassment at the hands of Dartmouth's Big Green, nearly two weeks ago, continued last night in Briggs Cage, as the Harvard women's basketball team fell to C.W. Post, 72-43.

The disheartening loss dropped the Crimson's record to 2-5. It marked the fourth straight loss for Harvard, which never led in last night's match-up.

Except for the final minutes of play, the Crimson never seemed hungry for a win. But C.W. Post's Pioneers had come to play, and did, somewhat unchecked by the Crimson defense. The hoopsters managed to get into foul trouble, and the Pioneers responded very capably, hitting 73 percent of their foul shots--for 24 points--in the game.

C.W. Post scored most of its other points off a well-engineered fast break. Senior guard Vera Danner stole the ball frequently, and layed the ball up over the heads of flailing Crimson arms. She also connected on three free throws for a 100-percent average on the night. Teammate Sue Salg was as deadly from the floor, sinking buckets from a 20-ft. range. Salg led all scorers, with 20 points.

The Crimson could barely hit the backboard in the first half connecting on only 14 percent of its attempts. Down by 19 at the midway point, the hoopsters did improve in the second half, and were only outscored by 10.

Put It to Bed

"We played much better the second period," Co-Captain Frenesa Hall said, "but we're not going to waste time talking about what went wrong in the game."

The most remarkable moment of play came at the nine-minute mark Coach Kathy Delaney Smith (see story below) called a time out and informed the team that she would be substituting every minute, and that the hoopsters should "press like you never have in your lives." Her advice produced some instant results.

The hoopsters ran about desperately, as C.W. Post continued to run its fast break successfully. The Crimson played most aggressively in those last few minutes, scoring five times the points it managed in the first quarter of play.

Ann Scannell led all Harvard scorers with 11 points when she fouled out of the game with 58 seconds left in the game Surprisingly, the officials didn't notice until 23 seconds later.

Commented C.W. Post Coach Kathy Solano. "The officials let the game get out of hand, when the Crimson was pressing us. I was afraid someone was going to get hurt."

Harvard will have another chance to end its four-game losing streak tonight against Holy Cross at 7.30 p.m. in Briggs Cage. Said a somewhat confident Smith: "I don't know. But Holy Cross will wish they weren't playing. Harvard after the C.W. Post game." At Briggs Cage C.W. Post  16  6  14  26  72 Harvard  6  7  11  19  43

High Scorers C.W. Post--Sue Salg. 20. Vera Danner, 15; Diane Alessio, 14 Harvard--Ann Scannell, 11; Pat Home, 8, Elaine Holpuch, 8 Fouls C. W. Post--21; Harvard--30.

High Scorers C.W. Post--Sue Salg. 20. Vera Danner, 15; Diane Alessio, 14 Harvard--Ann Scannell, 11; Pat Home, 8, Elaine Holpuch, 8 Fouls C. W. Post--21; Harvard--30.