Jenny Laforet lead the Harvard women's fencing team to a 12-4 victory over an outclassed Wellesley team last night at the IAB.

Laforet scored 5-1 victories over Wellesley foes Alison Clark and Virginia Penhome. Crimson freshman Caroline Powell also turned in a solid performance winning three matches before falling 5-3 to Wellesley's Mary Vaskas.

"Vaskas, the only Wellesley fencer to score a victory, beat each member of the Crimson squad including captain Kathy Lowry by a 5-1 count.

Touching

"I should have beat her," Lowry said last night. "I lost my concentration and gave her three touches."

Sophomore Suzy Rivitz, coming up from the J.V. to replace Bernadette Drankoski, scored four touches on counterattacks in her 5-4 bout with Clarke, and was 3-0 before losing 5-3 to Vaskas.

Lowry quickly identified the reason for the Crimson victory, "We're better fencers than they are," she said last night.

We should be strong coming off this match for our match with Brandeis in a couple of weeks," Lowry said.

Last year, the Crimson edged Brandeis 9-7. Captain Nancy Cooper gathered four touches in the last minute of the final bout to secure the victory.

The Crimson will finish off its season later this month with the annual New England Fencing Association tournament.