W. Cagers Fall to Rhode Island

"Winning isn't everything, winning is the only thing," is a quote often attributed to either former Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi or deposed ex-President Richard Nixon. But after the Harvard women's basketball team lost to Rhode Island 77-57 on Saturday night to fall to 1-4, its attitude belied the truth of that old adage.

"I love the way the team played," Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said.

"This was the best game we've had working as a team," added sophomore forward Tammy Butler.

What was the score again?

Although the Crimson's 20-point loss dropped its record to 1-4, the team continues to fight the forces of despair, while focusing on the positives of each loss.

The game started out innocently enough, with the lead switching back and forth until the Crimson went up 17-7 on the strength of a nine to nothing run, culminating in senior co-captain Cara Frey's (six points, six assists) three-pointer.

But Rhode Island (5-1) answered with an 11-0 spurt, scoring easy basket after easy basket in transition. Butler (22 points, 14 rebounds) stemmed the tide with a nice inside move, but the Rams finished the half strong to take a 28-25 lead going into the locker rooms.

However, much like their previous loss against Tulane, when the Crimson were outscored 53-37 in the second half, Harvard could not keep the game close in the second half. Rhode Island quickly outscored Harvard 15-8 to take an 11-point lead, and from then on the Crimson would not get closer than seven.

"Maybe I should stop giving halftime talks," quipped Delaney Smith.

Harvard continued its season-long shooting woes by hitting only 31.2 percent (24-77) of its shots. Once again, though, the team did not lament its shot selection.

"We took good shots that just weren't falling," Delaney Smith said.

But so far this year, the team is shooting at a horrendous 36.5 percent clip, while allowing opponents a 45.9 percentage. Could this have something to do with the team's newly installed full-court press, which caused only 16 turnovers, versus 23 for the Crimson?

Not according to the players.

"The press was effective," Butler said.

What finally doomed the Crimson was that only Butler, Reinhard, and sophomore guard Elizabeth Proudfit (eight points, five rebounds) had a scorer's mentality. When Reinhard and Proudfit went cold (six for 28 combined), no one stepped up.

"We're too young to act like scorers right now," Delaney Smith said of her inexperienced squad.