Women Hoopsters Split on the Road, Crush Barnard But Fall to S. Conn.

And now, for the real story of what happened to the women's hoop team this weekend...

After a pleasant and uneventful trip down to New York City, land of dreams and the midnight bagel, the Hoopsters just as pleasantly and uneventfully dispatched an inferior Barnard squad 75-31, beefing up their season's record to 5-11. When it rains, it pours, particularly for the cagers.

"The whole team played well," reports point guard Pat Horne. Considering the fact that Barnard had no legitimate excuse for a defense, this comes as no surprise. The cagers shot well from outside, strolled through the key and shot inside without interference, and put together accuracy with ample opportunity to rack up a total of 75 points.

The evening was not without drama, however. Forward Rose Guarino, who has been improving all season and supplying the hoopsters with some strong rebounding, left the game early with a hurt ankle. She should be back in uniform soon. The real tragedy of the night involved captain Kim Belshe. Returning to action for the first time in two months, Belshe reinjured her knee coming down with a rebound three minutes into the game and returned to the bench to sit out the remainder of the season. Belshe, a familiar figure to fans last year with her flawless outside shooting and calm, unhurried play has had to contribute her all from the sidelines this year. This final injustice couldn't help but dampen the jubilant win over Barnard.

The next night against Southern Connecticut the Crimson started out strong, boxing out their ultra-physical opponents well enough to retain a lead throughout most of the first half, but left the court two points down. The Owis got wise to Harvard's tactics over the break, and came out with a new look on defense that effectively closed the confident cagers out of the middle and forced them to take long outside shots. As the second half wore on, S.Conn. eventually closed the cagers down from the outside as well. With the Crimson scoring machine closed down and S.Conn. hitting everything in sight, Harvard had no chance to come back.

Keep Your Word

There are players who shy away from more physical opponents and perform far below their capabilities, and then there are players who actually thrive on physical play and rise to the occasion. Guards Ann Scannell and Frenessa Hall belong to the latter set. Both girls, though constantly jostled, elbowed, and generally abused by S.Conn. players, played outstanding games on Saturday. If the rest of the hoopsters would follow their lead, there wouldn't be a team that could beat them.

THE NOTEBOOK: The tracksters travel to Dartmouth next weekend for a four-way meet with the Big Green, Brown and Albany State. Led by middle-distance star Cheryl Bascomb, Dartmouth has racked up a 4-1 record this season.