W. Cagers Hoping To Defend Ivy Title

The Harvard women's basketball team has suffered a beating from the loss of four key players to graduation.

The Crimson lost two starters, forward Sharon Hayes and guard Barb Keffer, who combined to average 26 points per game last season and finished as Harvard's top two all-time scorers. Also missing from the Harvard roster will be defensive wizard Nancy Cibotti and the tenacious Mary Baldauf.

However, Coach Kathy Delaney Smith's motto these days must be, "We can rebuild. Bigger...faster...stronger...better."

"We have more potential than I expected," the seventh-year coach said. "There are a lot of new faces, but my major worries right now are turnovers and foul shots, both of which are correctible."

Harvard will be hard-pressed to match its accomplishments of last winter, when the Crimson racked up 21 wins en route to a share of the Ivy League title with Dartmouth. Included among Delaney Smith's victims last year were Boston University, Boston College, Rice, Vermont, Maine and the University of Massachusetts. However, the cagers' impressive record (21-5, 12-2 Ivy League) and resume of victories over tough, non-league opponents still wasn't enough to garner an NCAA or NWIT tournament bid. (See accompanying story--Harvard Needs Respect.)

This year's Crimson squad has a different look, including a new motion offense, adapted from Dean Smith's offense at the University of North Carolina, which is designed to take advantage of the increased athletic abilities of the current roster. Delaney Smith emphasized the importance of being able to utilize the diverse talents of Co-Captains Sarah Duncan and Beth Chandler both under the basket and on the perimeter.

"We have a physically fast, extremely talented team this year," Duncan said. "We will fast break and press a lot more than last year. It's a lot more exciting brand of basketball--the kind everyone likes to play."

The burden of Harvard's fortunes this year will fall on the squad's three returning starters, Duncan, Chandler and point guard Heidi Kosh.

The 6-ft. Duncan led the team last year with 13.7 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, a .497 shooting percentage and 78 blocked shots. The First Team All-Ivy forward also added 56 assists and 33 steals for the Crimson.

Duncan is currently tied for fourth place on the all-time Crimson scoring list with 870 points, trailing the leader, Hayes, by 432 points.

Chandler came through with a spectacular junior season after missing the previous year because of knee surgery. The 6-ft. center was the Crimson's "Chairman of the Boards," tearing down 198 rebounds last season while also adding 10.3 points per game.

Kosh is the remaining member of the Special K combination following Keffer's graduation. (See accompanying story.) The junior inherits her ex-backcourt mate's role as point guard and catalyst of the offense, after contributing 88 assists, 40 steals and 8.8 points per game to the Ivy League champions' efforts.

Returning from a year off is senior guard Hanya Bluestone, who will need to contribute experience, aggressive defense and offensive direction in the backcourt. (See accompanying story.) Bluestone was a member of Harvard's first Ivy League championship squad in 1986.

"We have four players with a lot of experience who will have to lead this squad," Duncan said, "but the combination of talent and inexperience on the rest of the squad often leads to inconsistency. We cannot let ourselves be inconsistent."

It's My Turn

Several returning letterwinners who have not seen significant playing time in the past will be expected to participate in Harvard's game plan this season. Sophomore guards Beth Wambach and Dina Hadrick are ready to move their ball-handling and shooting skills into the spotlight. Delaney Smith must find a second three-point shooter among her group of guards (Kosh, Bluestone, Wambach and Hadrick) to complement Duncan's outside shooting accuracy.

"I'm really excited about the sophomores," Duncan said. "They have returned after this summer with infinitely more confidence. A lot of people still have to be tested in real games, though."

The most exciting addition to the Crimson's lineup may be sophomore Jen Mazanec, who is the likely starter opposite Duncan at the forward position. The 5-ft., 10-in. Minnesota native makes up for her lack of size with an explosive first step and an extremely tough defense. "Mazanec can be dominating," Delaney Smith said.

Juniors Melinda Nelson and Sandra Springer will add height and bulk up front just in case the Crimson's smallish lineup is physically outplayed by an opponent. Both can contribute offensively and on the boards if they can develop a more intimidating style of play.

Junior Jody Fink and freshmen Heather Harris, Maura Healy and Liz Resnick round out Delaney Smith's roster, which has suffered a number of minor injuries in the preseason.

"We have a lot of new faces and a new offense which has created a lot of frustration," Delaney Smith said. "The players hated the offense the first week and the small injuries and sicknesses have delayed our progress even further. I hope they are coming out of their frustration right now."

Harvard's early-season schedule will include competitive tournaments such as the Rice Classic in Houston over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Augusta Tournament hosted by Maine during the winter holidays and Harvard's own invitational tournament, which will be held at Briggs Cage on December 2-3 and include Lafayette, the University of Illinois-Chicago and Vanderbilt.

"We are going to lose more games this year, but we can't react to that, expecting to win as much and as easily as we did last year," Delaney Smith said. "We're going to take our lumps in December, but hopefully everything will be in place in time for the start of the Ivy schedule."

The defending-Ivy League champion Crimson will have to do a lot of rebuilding in order to overcome the challenges of Dartmouth and Yale and successfully repeat as champions in 1989. Luckily, it appears that Delaney Smith is following the blueprints of the $6 million man to perfection, trying to integrate bigger, faster, stronger and better parts to continue the winning tradition at Harvard established by the class of '88.