Chem (Starting) Five

Not everything is going perfectly for the Harvard women's basketball team.

You see, Nancy Cibotti, the team's leading rebounder, took her orgo final yesterday and, well, she said "it didn't go very well."

But besides worrying about that sort of chemistry, the squad is one happy bunch.

"Barb[arann Keffer] came up to me, it was before the Penn game," recalls Co-Captain Anne Kelly. "She said, 'Anne, I've never felt this way since high school. I feel like we're going to win.'"

"It was great because I knew exactly how she felt. Everyone knew [before the Penn game] we were going to win. It's confidence I've never seen before in these people," the three-year team member said.

The cagers did roll over Penn (Friday night) by 16 points and then came back the following night with a 62-54 triumph over Princeton.

Confidence--and a whole lot of sweat--has turned the Crimson women's basketball program around this year, making it possibly the Harvard sports story of the year.

In the past six seasons, the women's squad had not managed a winning season.

Chandler Honored

Harvard women's basketball forward Beth Chandler was named Ivy League Player of the Week Monday for her performance off the bench in the Crimson's weekend sweep of Penn and Princeton.

The Branford, Conn., native scored 16 points against the Quakers and 14 versus the Tigers to pick up the first Player of the Week award ever won by a women cager.

Chandler also grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked four shots, and shot 9-for-16 from the floor.

This year, with 10 games to go, the team has collected its most Ivy League wins (four)--ever.

This year, Beth Chandler (see box) became the first Harvard player to be named Ivy Player of the Week--ever.

And this year, Harvard may snag its first Ivy League basketball title--ever.

"It's all mental preparation, period," says Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith. "I really believe that the game is won or lost before you step onto the court."

The turnaround is also a result of the maturation of the first strong recruiting corps in the Delaney Smith era. Eight promising freshmen last year have matured into six seasoned sophomores who are leading the team this year.

"They all come from winning high school programs," Assistant Coach Beth Wheatley Doran said of her players, "So they know how to win. It's just a matter of the chemistry."

And a deep bench and an offensive attack that refuses to quit doesn't hurt much, either.

"Sharon [Hayes] doesn't hit, Trish [Brown] hits. If Trish doesn't hit, Hanya [Bluestone] goes in," says Kelly. "For the other team it must be like a vicious circle of players."

Harvard's running game was taking its toll on the hapless Tigers. With three minutes and running alongside Keffer on a Harvard fast break.

Hayes was about to score her last points in a magnificent 17-point performance that would pull her out of a horrendous three-game, 3-for-24 drought.

Hayes took a pass from Keffer, dribbled towards the baseline, pulled up, popped from ten feet, and drew the foul. The ball obligingly went through the hoop.

"I knew right then there was no way we could lose," said Hayes.