Cagers Just Break Even

The Harvard scoring power came a day late. Though most of the players on the Harvard women's basketball team felt sure they could beat Dartmouth, they didn't. But after losing Friday to the Big Green, the cagers had enough energy left for an 84-50 win over Williams, Saturday night.

The Crimson is now 0-3 in the Ivies and 4-7 overall. Their four victories are as many as they got all last season.

Harvard played a tight defensive game against the Big Green but couldn't match Dartmouth's scoring efforts. Everyone was shooting poorly--the team was a cold 27 percent from the floor--while Dartmouth's offense rolled on much as it had in the previous matchup.

"We were all playing a really tentative game," center Wendy Joseph commented. "For some reason we were really scared and intimidated by Dartmouth's players."

Maybe the scoring power of freshman forward Jane Diagle raised a little bit of fear beneath the boards. Diagle scored 16 points in the last contest, mostly on back-door passes from teammate Sarah French. The Crimson duo of Joseph and Elaine Holpuch took away the back-door play, but Diagle scored 15 points anyway and snagged a game-high 19 rebounds for the Big Green.

Dartmouth guards Cindy Viaos and Anne Deacon combined for 25 points, hitting from the outside or driving to the bucket. The Crimson defense didn't make many mistakes, but Dartmouth cashed in on its opportunities. The Big Green attempted only 13 foul shots on the night but connected on 10 of them.

Though she hit only four of 17 shots. Holpuch played one of her most confident games. Some of her layups just wouldn't fall Co-Captain Erenesa Hall, who started in place of Co-Captain Pat Horne, scored eight points.

"It's not that we didn't play well," Hall said. "We played an excellent game on defense, and we took good shots. I don't think we shot the ball enough though. We didn't go to the basket as often as we could have."

It wasn't until the last 10 minutes of the second period that the hoopsters started to play well offensively. By that time, Dartmouth had already acquired a 20-point lead. The Crimson put on a full court man-to-man press and stole the ball several times to pull to within 10, but despite their never-give-up effort, that was as close as they could come.

The Crimson used the same press to start their attack against Williams the next night, and took control of the game with its strongest offensive game all season. Williams played well, sometimes challenging Harvard, but the Purple Cows buckled easily under Crimson defensive pressure. Guards Hall, Horne and Anne Scannell frequently stole the ball, as Williams became more flustered.

Forwards Cindy Clapp and Joseph shot well inside after rebounding and put up a few solid jump shots. Clapp led all scorers with 18 points, while Joseph and Holpuch each had 16. Harvard shot a season-high 48 percent from the floor. "I think we just proved that we were a much better team than Williams," said forward Val Jordan, who is still sidelined with a leg fracture. "We dominated them the whole game." The Crimson took advantage of a height advantage and Williams' few able ball handlers.