Crusaders Crucify Women Hoopsters

WORCESTER--After her team's 81-57 lambasting at the hands of the Holy Cross Crusaders last night, Harvard's women's basketball coach Carole Kleinfelder realizes what must be stressed if the Crimson hopes to contend for the Ivy League title: fundamentals.

Several basic aspects of the game of basketball were absent from the squad's performance--most notably the ability to shoot from outside the key, snag rebounds and break the opposing team's full court press--and the Crusaders took advantage of these deficiencies.

At no time in the game--with the exception of the end of the first half of play--was Harvard in command. Consistently, the Crusaders pulled off successful fast breaks and steals, dominated the boards, and also capitalized on Harvard's many turnovers and mental errors.

The Holy Cross (6-0) victory, however, was not a team effort. Three of its players--Phyllis Townsend, Mary Ann Palazzi and Sherry Levin--pumped in 20, 22 and 24 points respectively while the rest of the squad remained relatively impotent offensively.

Cold As Ice

The loss dropped the Crimson's record to 1-5, snapping a modest one game winning streak.

Palazzi said that her team was well aware of Harvard's speed and breakaway potential demonstrated in earlier games this season. For this reason, the Crusaders maintained an impenetrable full court press throughout the entire contest--a strategy which proved fatal to the Harvard offense.

"I saw them (Harvard) play before, but they were much quicker against Fair-field," Palazzi commented after the game.

"It [the game] was disastrous," said Kleinfelder. "We didn't play our game. We waited for them to set their own pace. We just didn't execute."

"We're just going to go back to fundamentals," Kleinfelder added. "I don't care who you are playing...You just have to go out and take 'em. And that's what Holy Cross did to us."

At least one optimistic note developed during the game for the women hoopsters. Freshman forward Wendy Joseph demonstrated unbelievable poise, pouring in 23 points, shooting 75 per cent from the floor and sharing a phenomenal 12 rebounds.

In her last game--against Pennsylvania--Joseph was a bright spot coming off the bench to help Harvard nail down its only win of the season. Against Holy Cross, she again began the game on the bench, but once Joseph reached the floor, she was undeniably the best Crimson cager in the Hart Recreation Center, causing Kleinfelder to say after the game that Joseph had earned a spot among the starting five.

This Thursday's contest at Springfield will provide another test for the cagers. "Springfield is going to be the same kind of team as Holy Cross," said Kleinfelder. "We've got to prove that we can play against this kind of tean..