Road Woes for W. Hoopsters

The road is none too kind to the Harvard women's basketball team.

Last night in Philadelphia, the Ivy League featured a clash of the pitiful home/away records: Pennsylvania was 0-9 at the Palestra, but Harvard was 1-6 on the road.

Something had to give--and it did. Pennsylvania collected its first home victory of the season, defeating Harvard 80-77.

The Crimson went into the game in second place (6-2 in Ivies), fully expecting a rebound from its tough loss against Brown the previous weekend.

Instead, they hit the wall. They hit the backboard. And they hit the rim. But they just couldn't hit the net.

The key to the loss was the second half shooting. Harvard played a solid first half, taking a 43-31 lead into the locker room.

But there must have been something foul lurking in the air in the visiting locker rooms. The Crimson came out and couldn't shoot the rock. It couldn't shot-put the rock.

In the best tradition of Celtic Green, Harvard connected on an abysmal 31.6 percent of their shots in the second half. Further compounding the problem, the Johnnies only hit four of nine free throws. In a close game, on the road, the free throw shooting simply can't be that bad.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, decided at the half that it would finally give the faithful something to cheer about:

After having a miserable shooting performance in the first half (30.8 percent), the Quakers received some divine inspiration and improved their shooting by 11 percent, to 41.7 percent.

More importantly, though, they crashed the boards hard. After all, 41.7 is hardly scorching the nets. But the Quakers hauled in 22 offensive rebounds.

The one bright spot for the Crimson was their three point shooting. (If Harvard only had to launch treys, it would have wrapped up the league title a while back.) Last night, despite an off night in many other areas, Harvard still managed to connect on 48 percent of their trifectas (12-25).

The star for Harvard was freshman point guard Elizabeth Proudfit. She made four of five three pointers, ending the game with 15 points. In addition, she led the team with six assists.

Sophomore Tammy Butler also had a strong night, notching another double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds).

But Harvard will have to have better team efforts in the future. Tonight they're in Princeton, and will need to find a quick panacea to the road trip woes. PENNSYLVANIA, 80-77 at the Palestra Pennsylvania  31  49  --  80 Harvard  43  34  --  77

Pennsylvania: Shelly 6-13 7-8 23; Gabriel 5-10 3-7 16; Rezek 6-17 3-6 15; Pouleen 6-19 3-4 15; Banks 2-13 2-2 7; Gallaghar 2-3 0-0 4; Disterie 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 27-75 18-27 80.

Harvard: Maher 6-21 0-0 17; Butler 7-11 2-7 16; Flendermayer 6-20 3-4 15; Proudfit 5-13 1-4 15; Frey 4-7 3-6 12; Phillips 1-1 0-0 2, Totals: 29-74 12-25 77.

Pennsylvania: Shelly 6-13 7-8 23; Gabriel 5-10 3-7 16; Rezek 6-17 3-6 15; Pouleen 6-19 3-4 15; Banks 2-13 2-2 7; Gallaghar 2-3 0-0 4; Disterie 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 27-75 18-27 80.

Harvard: Maher 6-21 0-0 17; Butler 7-11 2-7 16; Flendermayer 6-20 3-4 15; Proudfit 5-13 1-4 15; Frey 4-7 3-6 12; Phillips 1-1 0-0 2, Totals: 29-74 12-25 77.