Women Cagers Fall to Bentley, 78-61; Judge, Holpuch Provide Bright Spots

Inconsistency--the bane of last year's women's hoop squad--returned last night to haunt the Crimson in its 78-61 opening-game loss at Bentley.

How else do you explain a 17-point final spread in a game between two evenly-matched teams? Bentley boasted no unstoppable gargantuan offense, no impenetrable defense, no overwhelming size or skill advantages. The Falcons simply had fewer letdowns--they made fewer mistakes.

For the Crimson there were flashes of brilliance--the game leading 20-point, ten-rebound performance by 6-ft. 1-in. center Elaine Holpuch; the double-digit outputs by point guard Nancy Boutilier and freshman forward Janet Judge; and the two impressive second-half comebacks. But there were also the mistakes--mistakes that forced the cagers to play a game of desperate, catch-up basketball.

Every time the Crimson seemed on the verge of taking control, the defense would lapse, the offense would lose intensity, and the Falcons would remain that elusive step ahead.

There was determination in the voice of coach Carole Kleinfelder when she spoke of the loss. "I know we could beat a team like Bentley. We had some good performances out there. We've just got to start playing like a team and try not to lose our concentration."

The lack of concentration became apparent early in the contest as the hoopsters allowed their opponents to jump out to a quick 13-4 lead in the opening minutes of the first period.

The Crimson started to tighten up just when the contest was starting to look like a rout, however, and the teams battled even up for the rest of the half. The Falcons took a 34-26 lead into the locker room.

Harvard came out fired up to start the second-half, and for a while played nearly faultless basketball. Led by Holpuch and Judge under the boards, the defense silenced the Bentley guns, allowing only one point in the first five minutes.

The offense responded nicely, scoring eight points in that span, bringing the team to within one.

But just as the Crimson seemed ready to jump ahead, the unfortunate started to happen. Mistakes. Harvard let down and allowed the Falcons to score eight unanswered points.

The cat-and-mouse game continued, however, as Harvard refused to die. A couple of key steals and quick jump shots, and the hoopsters were back in the game at 42-42 with just over ten minutes remaining.

This was their last hurrah. The defense slipped into the lethargic style of play which hallmarked the lowpoints of the team's dissapointing 12-14 season last winter. Three quick outside jumpshots by Falcon Nancie Roundtree put the game out of reach. A last-minute full court press by Harvard proved too little, too late.

"They started bringing it down faster, and we just didn't get back on defense. I guess our concentration just broke down," said Boutilier.