Harvard's women's basketball team learned a mighty valuable lesson in its 57-55 victory over the Pennsylvania Quakers Saturday evening: It really helps if the ball goes through the basket instead of around it.

Through the first four games of the young basketball season--all of them losses--the women hoopsters maintained only a dry 28-per-cent shooting average from the field. But on Saturday, the squad improved to a respectable 45-per-cent clip.

Throughout most of the game, the lead teetered back and forth, with neither the Crimson nor the Quakers taking command. But with 6:25 remaining, center Marget Long's two converted free throws put Harvard in front for good, 46-44.

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On the night, Long paced the Crimson attack with 18 points and six rebounds, playing both solid offense and defense.

Harvard managed to build a seven-point lead with only three minutes of game time remaining, but some clutch Quaker field goals enabled Penn to come within one point of tying the score with less than two minutes to go.

That didn't matter, however, because freshman forward Wendy Joseph's bucket and Long's layup underneath the basket all but sealed the lid on Harvard's first victory of the 1981-82 campaign.

One of the bright spots of the game was the stellar performance of Joseph. Coming off the bench, she popped in six field goals and a free throw for 13 points.

In addition, a surprisingly large amount of floor leadership--a necessary key to the success of any team--was demonstrated on the court by captain Pat Horne, Long, and co-captain Kate Martin.

To put things in the proper perspective, it should be mentioned that Penn (0-3) isn't a top-notch squad. Like Harvard, the Quakers lack height and have to rely on speed and the fast break.

But the first win is a big one, whomever it's against.

"I'm so glad," Joseph said after the game. "We just needed the first win. Now we broke the ice and we'll just keep on winning."

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"[In the past,] out defense has been great, but our offense, well, it hasn't been able to win games for us," coach Carole Kleinfelder said. "But tonight, offensively, I think we put things together better than before."

Kleinfelder added, "I see them getting stronger as the season goes on. It was nice to see them mesh tonight...But we've got a touch schedule ahead. You have to remember that we're not playing give-away games."

Tomorrow's game at Holy Cross for sure is not going to be a give-away game. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Saturday's win was just an interruption in--what many spectators believe it to be--a dismal season, or the beginning of a new caliber of performance for the women hoopsters.