B.C. Edges Out Women Cagers, 72-66

Fresh from their Friday night massacre of Barnard College, the high-flying women cagers fell back to earth Saturday, when a tough Boston College squad ripped a hard-fought contest from the Crimson's hands, 72-66.

The contest, the cagers' first in their last five outings, was pure excitement from start to finish, well worth the two-hour trolley ride to B.C.'s gymnasium.

Uncanny

The first half saw the hoopsters pull out in front with fine outside shooting from freshman Ann Scannel and inside bank shots from forward Karen Smith. The tall, slender Smith has an uncanny ability to filter through enemy defense lines and hover open beneath the basket for easy layup conversions.

The system worked to put Harvard into an early lead until B.C. wised up and boxed out Smith, moving ahead to a 40-31 lead by halftime.

If the first half was exciting, the second half was doubly so. The lead seesawed back and forth as the coaches paced the sidelines, players scrambled and dove to the floor for passes, and everyone kept eyes riveted to the scoreboard overhead.

With five minutes left in the game and B.C. on top, 61-60, the walls began to crumble for Harvard. Six contested referee calls in a row--all in favor of B.C.--visibly demoralized the cagers, a setback they never recovered from.

Bright spots in the game included consistent outside shooting by Scannel, with 20 points on the afternoon, and a parallel performance by the Eagles' fiery, diminutive Lin Levins, retaliating with 20 markers of her own and leading an aggressive B.C. defense.

The final buzzer sounded all too soon, cutting off a last-minute Crimson scoring drive and clinching the Eagle victory.

The cagers need a win this Wednesday against Brown to secure a better spot for the Ivy tournament next month. With starters Dorris Woolery and Franessa Hall out for the season, and center Elaine Holpuch slowed down with bronchitis, the hoopsters will need determination and strong performances from the bench to salvage the season.