Hoopsters Fall to UMass; Rebounding Is Key Factor

Point guard Nancy Boutilier summed it up best: "We knew the things we had to do, we just didn't do them," as the hoopsters lost their second game of the season yesterday to UMass, 78-55.

Hardly an auspicious beginning, but the season is young, the hoopsters have a young team, so it's only a matter of time...

Some contests are punctuated by a continuous, evenly-paced rhythm. This was not one of those. The Minutemen took the initiative right from the start and soon led 12-2. An alarmed Boutilier undertook a one-woman revenge and sunk three quick baskets, 12-8.

The seesaw continued throughout most of the first half, with UMass building up a bigger and bigger lead as they monopolized the boards and consistently broke through Harvard's tentative 1-3-1 zone defense.

Coach Kleinfelder switched to man-to-man defense. then back to the zone, rearranged the zone to a 2-2-1, but all to no avail. Only a concerted effort by the hoopster offense helped to close the gap to 5 points by half time, the closest they ever came to taking the lead.

The second half was even more frantic than the first, and proved disasterous for the Crimson rimsters. When the dust cleared the score stood at a final 78-55, and three factors emerged clear as day.

One, Harvard was sadly out-rebounded 31 to 52 for the Minutemen. With all other statistics more or less equal, the Crimson's lack of punch under the boards gave the opposition ample opportunity to cash in the basket, if not on the first try then on the second, third, or fourth, while the hoopsters offense had to rely on the single shot hit-or-miss technique.

Another factor was UMass's Julie Reddy. The 6 ft. 2 in. sharpshooter stunned the hoopsters with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Her 6 ft. 3 in. sister chipped in 10 more points, and like two ever-Reddy batteries they effectively charged the Minuteman offense and consistently penetrated Harvard's zone for the inside shots.

With four six-foot plus Minutemen circulating through the line-up, Harvard knew it was in trouble when center Karen Smith fouled out, leaving only Elaine Holpuch to battle the big guns of UMass. Harvard's guards did somewhat better, expecially Boutilier with a game-high 23 points, and kept turnovers down to a minimum--an encouraging trend for the hoopsters.

The final factor going against the hoopsters was timing--or lack thereof. On offense the Crimson was quick to set up, almost too quick, and often hurried the shot needlessly, while on defense the hoopsters were never quite quick enough and coudn't get back to set up a strong zone in time.

As the Crimson travel on to Fenn this weekend for their first Ivy match they'll have a much clearer picture of their strengths and weaknesses. Penn promises to be a tough match, they narrowly defeated the Crimson last year and the hoopsters go looking for revenge.