Harvard played a solid basketball game last night at Northeastern's Cabot Gym, but against the Huskies, solid wasn't enough.

The Crimson (8-13 overall), facing a 14-6 Northeastern squad--one of the top three teams in the area--was outmanned if not outclassed en route to a 69-55 defeat.

"My prediction [before the game]," said Crimson Coach Kathy Delancy Smith, "was that if we played a very good game and they were off, we could make it close."

"What pleases me is that they were on, and we still almost came within 10," she added. "I though we played very well."

Indeed, the cause for Harvard's demise is not readily apparent from the game's stats. The Cantabs outshot the Huskies 49 percent to 47 percent from the floor and 78 percent to 52 percent from the foul line.

And except for a five-minute stretch late in the first half, the visitors almost played them even.

Unfortunately for Harvard, the Huntington Avenue Hounds, led by Pam Green's 32 points, were good enough to win handily despite a line Harvard effort.

The teams battled even for the first eight minutes. Northeastern's aggressive, man-to-man, defense forced Harvard into some bad shots, but the Crimson's zone held tight as well.

But the visitors then slipped into one of their quick but deadly slumps which have plagued them all year. The Huskies shut Harvard out for five minutes while connecting on five hoops to stretch a 18-16 edge into a comfortable 28-16 advantage.

A Sharon Hayes bomb woke the Crimson up before its fate was signed, sealed and delivered, but it may have been already signed and sealed.

Northeastern took a 35-22 lead into halftime, and never led by fewer than nine points again.

Harvard didn't make a serious run at the lead until only 6:45 remained. And by then it was too late.

Following a Delancy Smith time-out, Beth Chandler muscled inside for a three-point play and then connected on a little eight footer. Point guard Barb Keffer then sank two free throws to bring Harvard with eleven.

After a Huskie hoop, Hanya Bluestone hit a foul shot and Chandler put in an offensive rebound to cut the hosts' lead to under 10 for the only time in the second half.

Northeastern called time, and emerged from its huddle revitalized and back in form. The contest was never really in doubt again.