W & M Beats Harvard

The Harvard women's basketball team started its season inauspiciously this past Saturday, losing to William and Mary, 100-63.

The game, described as "God awful" by senior tri-captain Cara Frey, did not have many bright spots for the Crimson. The Crimson never led, committed a whopping 32 turnovers, and shot only 39.7 percent (23-58) from the field.

Adding injury to insult, two key players, senior starting forward Katie Phillips and freshmen center Allyson Keith, did not play because of injury. This left the Crimson with only nine healthy bodies, and the lack of depth put a crimp in the team's newly installed full court press (only 13 steals versus 20 for William and Mary) and fast break.

William and Mary center Ashleigh Akens (20 points, 7 rebounds) started the scoring with an inside basket and foul, and after Tribe guard Angel Stanton hit a three pointer, William and Mary led by seven before the game was two minutes old.

But then Harvard sophomore point guard Elizabeth Proudfit (8 pts., 3 assists) hit a three, and junior forward Tammy Butler (20 pts. on 8-11 shooting, 12 rebs.) hit two free throws to bring Harvard back within two.

The game went back and forth for most of the first half, and after two Butler jumpers, the Tribe's lead was only four with nine minutes to go in the half. From then on, however, it was all William and Mary. The Tribe scored 11 straight points in the next two minutes, and after a Harvard timeout, outscored the Crimson 19-6 (six by Akens to top off an 18 point half) till the end of the half to take a 60-33 halftime lead.

After a half-time appeal by Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, Harvard came out strong in the second half. A three point play by Frey (8 pts., 4 rebs.) cut the William and Mary lead to 18 with 15:41 to go, but that was as close as Harvard would get. The Tribe outscored the Crimson 25-8 over the next 10 minutes to take a 33 point lead, and its largest lead was 39.

Harvard, trying to utilize its atheleticism and depth to mask its lack of height (no starter over 6'1"), adopted a new full court press and running offense before the year.

Harvard's depth has been decimated by injury (Phillips and Keith joined freshmen Cara James and Kelly Black on the injured list), and its inexperience (among the eight that played, four were sophomores and one was a freshmen) shone through during the game in the form of turnovers and lack of cohesion on the court.

"We got creamed," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said, "but at times, I had four sophomores and a freshmen on the court. We will get better as we get more experience. I don't know why we were so flat. They were not taller than us, they were just more aggressive. Maybe it was nerves."

There were a few positive aspects of the game. Sophomore Amy Reinhard, who replaced Phillips in the starting line-up, had 17 points, six rebounds, and four steals. And Butler, a potential Ivy League player of the year, started off her season well.

"Tammy and Amy played wonderfully," Delaney-Smith said.

Harvard's home opener is this Wednesday versus Army, and players said this loss will not affect them negatively.

Ivy favorite Brown lost to Fairfield in its season opener, and Harvard's hopes for an Ivy title (which, for the first time, carries with it an NCAA Tournament bid) will depend on a return to health and quick on-the-court training of the underclassmen.