The members of the Harvard women's basketball team made a key mistake when they were dressing for last night's show down with Brown.

They forgot their track shoes.

But Brown didn't. The league leading Bruins opened the second half of the contest with a fast-break driven 32-9 run and cruised home to an 81-67 victory in front of 100 fans at Briggs Athletic Center.

"We gave them the win in the beginning of the second half." Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said, "primarily in transition defense."

More specifically, the lack of transition defense. Harvard (8-16 overall, 2-8 Ivies) just watched as the visitors scored on lay-up after lay-up in their 11 minute run.

Eightaeen of those 32 points were scored off the fast-break.

The Bruin explosion was in stark contrast to the first half, where the Crimson did a fine job of preventing the break.

Both teams started with hot shooting touches, but the Cantabs were hotter, grinding out a 20-14 lead in the first 10 minutes.

After a Brown timeout, the visitors served preliminary notice of their intention to run, dashing off a 14-1 spurt and capturing the lead forever.

But Harvard, led by high-scorer Barb Keffer (who equaled her career high with 18), put together an 8-2 run to out its halftime deficit to only three, 34-31.

Keffer was brilliant in the first half, penetrating the Brown defense on many occasions.

But her second half performance was more trick-or-treat. The freshman point guard scored her team's first two and last six points, with nothing in between.

The second half was all Brown, even from the opening tap. The visitors' tap play worked to perfection, freeing Donna Yaffe (a game-high 22 points) for a lay-up.

The Bruin tidal wave continued unabated for the next 11 minutes. When Harvard finally came up for air, it was staring at a 66-40 deficit.

And although the Crimson didn't role over and die--Brown was forced to keep its starters in until the final three minutes--the game's outcome was never in doubt again.