UMass Whips Women Cagers

The Harvard women's basketball is great with beginnings, but the team's been having a little trouble with its follow-ups.

After jumping out to a 3-0 start, the Crimson has dropped three straight decisions, the latest to the University of Massachusetts, 76-50, last night at Curry Hick's Cage in Amherst.

After dominating play for the first 10 minutes, the Crimson (now 3-3) failed to make a bucket for six minutes to wind up trailing by 14 at the half.

"We had to play catch-up ball and we didn't do it," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said.

The key to the team's recent woes is its shooting: Harvard has shot less than 50 percent from the field in all three of its losses--shooting 41 percent in both defeats last weekend in the Boston Four Tournament, and 23-of-59 for 39 percent last night.

"Our shooting percentage has been very poor," Delaney Smith said. "We shoot poorly and then we let it affect the rest of our game."

The Crimson also suffered on the boards, as the Minutewomen outrebounded Harvard, 49-28. "They had a definite height advantage," Delaney Smith said, "but we didn't box out well."

Karen Fitzgerald, UMass' leading rebounder with nine, stands 6-ft., 3-in., while teammate Beth Wilbor, who snagged eight boards, also hovers over six feet tall. Tara Lewis, the other UMass forward and a "great leaper" according to Delaney Smith, managed to grab seven offensive rebounds.

"We didn't do a good job keeping them off the offensive boards," said Delaney Smith, who has struggled with that same problem in several of the team's early season games.

Junior Nancy Cibotti was Harvard's leading rebounder for the third consecutive game, grabbing nine boards and contributing two points. Sophomore Sarah Duncan added five rebounds.

Fouls are another recurring problem for Harvard--the team committed 20 fouls to send UMass to the foul line 25 times for a total of 20 free-throw points. Harvard, though shooting 80 percent from the foul line, only attempted five free throws for a mere four points.

"Rebounds, fouls and poor shooting really killed us," Delaney Smith said.

Despite the team's low percentage, one member of the Harvard squad was shooting well--senior Co-Captain Trisha Brown went 5-for-6 (83 percent) from the floor for a total of 10 points. Unfortunately, Brown was plagued by foul trouble and was forced to sit the bench for the final five minutes of the game.

Freshman Heidi Kosh led the Crimson in scoring with 12 points, followed by Brown and junior guard Barb Keffer (9), who scored a school-record 30 points in last Saturday's game against Boston University.

Harvard has never defeated UMass in women's basketball competition--last night's loss extending the Minutewomen's winning streak to 10 games.

Minutewomen, 76-50 at Curry Hicks Cage

HARVARD (50): Mary Baldauf 0-0--0; Andrea Eror 1-0--2; Heidi Kosh 6-0--12; Sharon Hayes 3-0--6; Barbarann Keffer 4-1--9; Nancy Cibotti 1-0--2; Sarah Duncan 3-2--8; Trisha Brown 5-0--10; Hanya Bluestone 0-1--1; Nicole Anderson 0-0--0; Melinda Nelson 0-0--0. Totals: 23-59 4-5 50.

UMASS (76): Beth Wilbor 7-0--14; Tara Lewis 6-6--18; Karen Fitzgerald 6-5--17; Christel Zullo 3-6--12; Mary Marquedant 1-0--2; Janine Michaelson 1-1--3; Sue Serafini 2-0--4; Michelle Pytko 0-0--0; Joanne Dupuis 1-0--2; Helen Freeman 1-0--2; Jamie Watson 0-2--2; Sally Maher 0-0--0; Karen Henessey 0-0--0. Totals: 28-64 20-25 76.