"We were shaky at the beginning and quite nervous," Radcliffe coach Carol Kleinfelder said after Saturday's basketball game with Brown. "We didn't execute well. We were trying too hard," captain Kathy Fulton echoed.

Phrases such as these are usually reserved for the defeated. But in this year of the rise of Radcliffe athletics, these were the words of the coach and captain of a team that had just beaten Brown for the first time in four years and in so doing had upped their record to 4-0.

The 58-35 Radcliffe waltz was a contest hardly in doubt after the opening minutes. After a rash of Radcliffe fouls at the outset, the team grabbed a 8-4 lead.

With five minutes left in the half, the Radcliffe five had allowed only three Bruin baskets while scoring 17 points, despite numerous turnovers. The team played sloppy defense in the waning minutes of the half which Brown took advantage of to narrow the margin to 21-16 at the intermission.

The pace of the contest picked up measurably in the second half, beginning with the tip-off. Radcliffe controlled it and five seconds later Fulton eased a 15-ft. jump shot in.

Icing on the Cake

As the tempo picked up, Brown tried to make it a game as baskets were evenly exchanged. Radcliffe then ran off a six-point string half way through the stanza, capped by eventual leading scorer Caryn Curry's two free throws to make the score 39-29 with 10 minutes remaining.

The young, spirited Brown contingent never regained their composure. Radcliffe steadily increased its margin as its passes became sharper and their discipline more evident. The Radcliffe bulge reached 20 with 1:30 left at 54-34.

The contest ended with an arcing 25-foot jumper at the buzzer by Ellen Seidler which seemed to indicate that Radcliffe was just warming up with ten games remaining.

Curry led all scorers with 19 points, while Hart had eight and Loretta Christenson seven. Fulton and Wendy Carle each put in six and center Susan Hewitt dropped in four. Seidler, Susan Williams, and Beth Craig each had two.