The Harvard women's basketball team flew to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers Saturday night, but the cagers said yesterday they never rally got a chance to play Instead of playing basketball, the Crimson went through a series of two-minute waltzes around the officials, who called more than a foul a minute.

Thus the Crimson fell, 73-61, mainly because the Quakers journeyed to the foul stripe 53 times and tallied 35 charity points. Mean-while, four of the five Crimson starters--Elaine Holpuch. Ann Scannell1, Pat Horne and Cindy Clapp--joined the ranks of the unemployed, each leaving the game early with five personal fouls.

The loss drops the Crimson record to 2-3 (0-2 in the Ivies), while Penn now boasts a 2-0 mark (1-0 in Ivy play).

"We could have and should have won that game." Harvard Co-Captain Horne said. 'They were a little better than last year, but we were a better team." Both teams felt that the game would have been closer if the refs had given their whistles a rest--"Penn players felt the reffing was bed, too," Horne said.

The hoopsters had eagerly anticipated their second Ivy battle against Penn, especially after last week's loss to Dartmouth, which downed the Quakers in the finals of last year's Ivy tourney. The 1981-82 Crimson (4-21) dealt Penn one of its few losses, staging a 57-55 upset, so this year's Harvard contingent expected a tough, well-played game

And until six minutes of the second half had been played, the contest remained close. The Crimson turned a one-point halftime deficit into a four-point second half lead But at that point, as Horne described it, "the female referce started calling more fouls that she had before. Then the male ref, as though they were competing or something, started calling the pickiest fouls." She added: "It wasn't even a really physical game"

Because Harvard depends a great deal on its defense, the hoopsters ended up on the losing end. Guard Scannell, whose tough, scrappy defensive play has sparked previous Crimson wins, spent much of the first half on the bench with three fouls. With 15 minutes left in the second half, Scannell fouled out

If the cagers had been able to rise above their frustration with the officiating and connect on more than 11 of their 29 free throws, then Harvard would have tested its hosts Defensively, the Crimson shut off the Quakers usually successful fast break, while on offense, the hoopsters outscored the Quakers 50-36 from the floor.

Elaine Holpuch led Crimson scorers with 12 points, towering over Penn's defenders as she dominated the inside.