Women Cagers Crush Quakers

If the Ivy League season is a journey, then Saturday night at Briggs Cage, two roads converged.

The Harvard women's basketball team pulverized Ivy rival Penn 87-73. While the Quakers (3-13 overall, 1-3 Ivy) are traveling down a long, winding road, the Crimson (11-5, 5-0) is steering a direct course toward a repeat Ivy League Championship.

Despite its perfect record, the Crimson has yet to hit its stride.

"We're in the heat of the Ivy League and [we are] not playing our best basketball," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said.

But Saturday night Harvard began to find its game. The offense clicked as the outside shooters fired on target. Junior point-guard Heidi Kosh led all scorers with 20 points, and Co-Captains Sarah Duncan and Beth Chandler netted 19 and 18 points, respectively.

"Kosh had a very good game and that takes the pressure off Chandler and Duncan," Penn Coach Marianne Stanley said. "When they shoot the ball well from the perimeter...you know they're going to hurt you."

Solid play off the bench also ignited the Crimson, Sophomore Beth Wambach served up 15 points, and junior Jody Fink, who always seemed to be in the right place at right time, aided the Crimson cause with four assists.

"I don't think we were tentative," Wambach said. "We were ready to play together as a team."

Harvard took control of the game late in the first half. Unaffected by the Quakers physical play, the Crimson's passing and transition game flowed.

To close out the half, Kosh passed to Wambach who scorched a corner jumper. Seconds later, Wambach returned the favor as she slid the ball to Kosh, who hit her jumper. The Crimson led, 39-27, at the half.

Despite playing a solid game, Penn couldn't put together an extended scoring streak. The Quakers pulled within eight points at the 6:10 mark, but Harvard quickly stifled any hopes of a Quaker comeback.

"[Harvard] played a lot harder than we did," Stanley said. "They get a lot out of just playing hard."

Consistent, solid play for 40 minutes is a necessity in the Ivy League, which most members of the Crimson describe as an extremely close division.

"[I've] never in seven years seen a more even league," Delaney Smith said. "We have to look at each game and look at each half."

THE NOTEBOOK: Penn's Cheryl Rath became the Quaker's all-time leading scorer when she hit a three-pointer in the first half. Rath now has 1204 points during her Penn career...Harvard shot 54 percent from the field...Penn shot 41 percent...Penn's media guide contains a section on players interests. Guard Kathy Boden's interests include tropical fish...The Crimson looks to extend its winning Ivy ways when it travels to Yale and Brown this weekend.