Women Cagers Belittle Big Green, 63-40

HANOVER, N.H.--With the start of the second semester, the Harvard women's basketball team earned high early marks here last night, romping over Dartmouth for their second straight win, 63-40.

The Crimson came out smoking, as they jumped to an early 8-2 lead on buckets by Susan Hewitt and Caryn Curry. While Dartmouth was looking inside, Harvard worked on the breakaway and crisp passing around the key to open a comfortable first-period advantage.

With six minutes gone in the game, Hewitt put in a turnaround jumper, and then Curry hit from the outside to give Harvard the lead at 14-6. Minutes later, Hildy Meyers and Curry pumped in two quick buckets and made the score 29-19.

After a foul shot, Curry found the hoop again with three minutes left in the period. Buckets by Gia Johnson, Leslie Greis, and Wendy Carle rounded out the scoring for the Crimson, as they waltzed into the locker with a 37-23 lead.

The pace of the second period slackened as both teams were plagued by poor ballhandling and violations. The Crimson alternated between man-to-man and a press, while the Big Green stuck to a zone, with an occasional backcourt press that Harvard frequently broke.

The Crimson, with buckets by Hewitt, Curry, Carle and Katherine Fulton, outscored Dartmouth 10-2 in the first ten minutes of the second half to put the game out of reach.

The two teams traded baskets for the rest of the game, and Harvard traveled back to Cambridge as the owners of a 23-point win.

Curry is Back

Last night's contest marked Curry's first appearance since she sustained an injury early in the first half of a January game against Eastern Nazarene College. Her 12-point, 43 per cent shooting effort, along with a team high of four steals and eight rebounds, sparked the Crimson win.

Other leading scorers for Harvard, Hewitt and Meyers, both went six for ten, and totalled 13 and 12 points, respectively.

It was a good night for Crimson steals, with Carle nabbing five and Meyers filching four. Neither team was spectacular off the boards, though Hewitt backed up Curry with six.

In contrast with the previous games, Harvard came to Dartmouth looking for the free shooter on the outside. Passing was for the most part quick and accurate, so that the Crimson had the option of either working inside or taking the shot from the field.

The visitors' defense stunned the Big Green as Harvard broke up the give-and-go and blocked the drive up the key. Harvard was successful in hampering all but Laurie Center, the Dartmouth high scorer with 16.