The Radcliffe varsity basketball squad kept pace with a powerful Brown team for 30 minutes last night, but succumbed in the last 10 minutes to the hot-shooting Bruins, 55-41, in the Providence Civic Center.

The change from the intimate IAB to the 8000-seat Civic Center gave the Crimson fits all night. But Radcliffe hung in the game largely because Brown was also playing its first contest in the center and had problems adjusting to the hard backboards and foreign floor surface. Ten minutes into the first half, Brown led, 12-6.

Successive Buckets

The Crimson five closed the gap and took a 23-22 lead with 30 seconds left in the half with three successive buckets by Cheryl Gelzer. Only a desperation 40-foot shot with three seconds on the clock gave the Bruins a one-point advantage at the half.

The teams traded the lead during the opening minutes of the second stanza. Midway through the period, with Radcliffe behind by four points, the Bruins finally adjusted to the Civic Center court. Two fast-break buckets followed by a successful outside shot ran the Brown lead up to ten points.

Cumberland Gap

The Crimson made several runs at the Brown margin but this time could not close the gap.

The night was not without bright spots for the Radcliffe five. Gelzer tallied 11 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and blocked 7 shots. Kathy Fulton and Maude Wood had 10 and 8 points, respectively.