Still A Shot at Magic 18

The Harvard women's basketball team's loss last night at the hands of Dartmouth has, at least momentarily, slowed the squad's race to the Ivy championship. The Big Green now sits atop the League with a 7-1 record while the Crimson hold a 6-2 mark. Each team has five Ivy contests remaining.

Though the defeat leaves the cagers thinking about what might have been--and no longer in control of their own destiny--the battle for the league title is far from over.

The squad's two victories over Brown this year is the first season-sweep over an Ivy League opponent since 1981-82, when the cagers took a pair from Cornell.

Speaking of the Big Red, Harvard will be in Ithaca, N.Y. this Friday to face the only Ivy school which it owns a overall record winning at 9-3.

Harvard is now 8-3 at Briggs Cage and 4-3 when venturing outside of Cambridge. The squad is a now a perfect 10-0 in games in which it has led at the half and a remarkable 12-1 when its bench has outscored the opponent's bench.

If the hoopsters can manage to win all six of their remaining games they can tie the all-time Harvard record for wins in a season--the 1976-77 Crimson went 18-3 but finished second to Princeton.

With her victory over Yale, Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith has now beaten every Ivy school. Delaney Smith is now in her fourth year as leader of Harvard's women cagers.

For the first time in two years, Sharon Hayes does not lead the team in scoring. Barb Keffer has taken over that honor with a 10.2 points per game average (all statistics do not include last night's game) while Hayes is second on the team with 10.0 ppg.

Keffer's trademark of aggressive defense--which Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says makes her "the best defensive player in the league"--has paid dividends offensively of late. Keffer has averaged almost 15 points in her last four games.

Keffer has scored at least two points in 42 of 43 college games--failing to make a bucket in the Crimson's first meeting against Yale in November. She got her revenge though, scoring a then career-high 24 points in the second Harvard-Yale matchup last Friday.

Keffer also leads the Anceint Eight in assists--dishing out 32 in Ivy contests. Her 17 steals is second best in the League and has helped make Harvard's defense the second best in the Ivies--allowing only 60 points per game.

"Barb's the best defensive player in the league," Coach Delaney Smith said, "I can't imagine how good she'll be when she's a senior."