The Dream Dies in Princeton?

PRINCETON, N.J.--The Harvard women's basketball team received a severe blow to its Ivy League title hopes here at Jadwin Gymnasium last night when the cagers were mauled by the last-place Princeton Tigers, 88-67, before a Parents' Weekend crowd of 150.

The 21-point defeat--the squad's worst loss since a 91-51 drubbing at Boston College more than two months ago--drops the Crimson into second place in the Ancient Eight, a full game behind Dartmouth.

The Big Green knocked off Penn, 90-69, last night to regain sole possession of first place with only two league contests remaining for each squad.

The Crimson (now 7-3 Ivy, 14-7 overall) rarely displayed its usual aggressive tactics, yielding several fast-break points and committing uncharacteristic turnovers throughout the contest.

The hoopsters were also plagued by cold shooting from the field, connecting on just 20 of 63 attempts (32 percent). The Tigers, meanwhile, shot 52 percent from the floor, hitting 30 of 58 tries.

"We played like we were asleep," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "We telegraphed our shots, our passes, everything. We just had no finesse tonight."

After the two teams traded baskets in the opening minutes, Princeton outscored Harvard, 18-4, eventually increasing its lead to as many as 18 points. The Crimson was able to close the gap to nine points with 19 seconds remaining in the half, but a Kim Eads jumper just before the buzzer put the Tigers ahead, 45-34, at intermission.

Eads, who wasn't a major factor the first time the two teams met in January, came off the bench to score 15 points and dish out three assists.

Princeton scored the first five points of the second half and never looked back, and the Crimson just wasn't able to muster any serious threats.

"We had too many lapses of concentration, especially defensively," Delaney Smith said. "We would do some really nice things and then not have a clue. Our job now is to get over this discouragement and beat Penn tonight."

Delaney Smith--who predicted before the season began that this year's league champ would have at least three or four losses--still believes the Ivy race is not over.

"Princeton played its best game of the season and deserved to win," she said. "We weren't able to execute well tonight, but we still believe that Dartmouth is going to lose again this season."

Almost every cager had an off night against the Tigers, with Barbarann Keffer--averaging better than 18 points per game in her previous six contests--scoring only four points (including 1-for-7 from the field). Last season's high scorer, Sharon Hayes, went only 3-for-12 from the

Tigers, 88-67 at Jadwin Gymnasium

HARVARD (67): Sharon Hayes 3-8--14; Beth Chandler 0-2--2; Anna Collins 5-0--10; Trisha Brown 3-2--8; Barbarann Keffer 1-2--4; Hanya Bluestone 2-0--4; Sarah Duncan 4-4--12; Nancy Cibotti 0-0--0; Mary Baldauf 0-3--3; Anne Kelly 1-8--10; Nicole Anderson 0-0--0; Totals 19-29--67.

Princeton (88): Ellen DeVoe 6-2--14; Jennifer Donnelly 6-3--15; Lisa Greenberg 6-8--20; Lois Hatzenbeller 3-5--13; Chris Adkins 3-3--9; Kim Eads 5-5--15; Amy Demattia 0-0--0; Pam Brady 0-0--0; Cathy Roberts 1-0--2. Totals 30-26--88.

Fouled out: Collins, Duncan. Rebounds: Harvard 35 (Duncan 8), Princeton 41 (DeVoe 10). Assists: Harvard 1 (Keffer 1), Princeton 13 (Adkins 5).   Harvard  34-33--67   Princeton  45-43--88

A: 150