Cliffe Cagers Vanquish B.U., 48-42

The Radcliffe Basketball team ran off to a quick but nervous 48-42 victory over Boston University (B.U.) last night in the first game of the season.

Starting off this year's show with a new coach and a roster full of new talent, the Crimson looked a little unsettled at the outset, but pulled together faster than its opponents and ran away to an effortless 24-21 lead at the half.

"We had a little trouble at first with first-game jitters," junior captain Kathy Fulton said. "But we managed to get over them much quicker than they did."

Indeed, led by the hot hands of Caren Curry and Sue Williams, the Radcliffe offense dominated the first half with a flurry of fast breaks punctuated by a barrage of deadly-effective outside shooting.

In the Beginning

But the Terriers leaped to the attack at the beginning of the second half, showing their own outside shooting potential by racking up four straight buckets with the long ball at the outset, puncturing outsized holes in the Crimson defense, and nearly turning the game around.

Thwarting Advances

The Radcliffe defense rallied quickly however, switching from zone coverage to a stingier one-to-one, thus taking the thunder out of the threatening Terrier outside game. Wendy Carle led the defensive effort, thwarting the advances of a particularly formidable 6-ft. 3-in. B.U. center.

From there it was all Radcliffe, as the Crimson continued to outrebound and outhustle the lagging opposition. B.U. managed to close the scoring gap to four early in the fourth quarter, but the Radcliffe offense opened up and a few fast breaks put the game out of reach.

Optimistic Start

The win signified an optimistic start for a season laden with question marks. Six of the eleven team members this year are freshmen and coach Carol Anne Kleinfelder marks her first season as a coach with the Crimson this year.

Still, the freshmen, especially Curry, Carle, and Ellen Hart, are a talented bunch, and have already developed into an important part of the team.