The Harvard women's basketball team returned to its home court in style last night.

Playing in Briggs Athletic Center for the first time since late November, the women cagers dominated Brown in an 88-75 Ivy League decision which extended the Crimson's home win streak to 10. The women cagers are now 8-9 overall (3-3 Ivy).

"It was a great feeling being home again," sophomore Sarah Duncan said. For Duncan, it was a particularly pleasurable homecoming--the forward scored a team-high 24 points.

Duncan's point total wasn't the only remarkable aspect of her game. Her career-high 24-pt. effort came on 12-for-16 field goal shooting--an amazing 75 percent from the floor. She also dominated defensively, grabbing seven rebounds and registering four steals.

"The team got me the ball inside and I was grateful for the opportunities," Duncan said. Brown's guards pressured Harvard's perimeter shooters, who consistently looked to Duncan and junior Nancy Cibotti for inside shots.

"Brown just packed it in and challenged our outside people," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said.

When the Bruins pulled within four points with 3:26 remaining, Crimson guards Barb Keffer and Trisha Brown moved the ball inside to Duncan, whose two pivot shots in the lane put the Crimson up by seven, 78-71. Open-basket lay-ups by Keffer and junior Co-Captain Sharon Hayes, as well as free throws from Keffer, Hayes and sophomore Hanya Bluestone sealed the win for the Crimson.

Frequently forced to move the ball inside, Keffer tallied 10 assists to push her career total to 307--an all-time Harvard assist record in only her junior year. Keffer dished out six assists in the first nine minutes of the game, breaking the record with a pass to junior Co-Captain Sharon Hayes for a baseline shot which put which put the Crimson up 28-17 with 11:03 remaining in the first half.

Brown challenged Harvard's hold on the lead only once--when a jumper by Krista Butterfield (the Bruin's high scorer with 16) tied the score at 38 with 0:55 left in the first half. But an outside basket by Bluestone sent the Crimson into the locker room with a 40-38 advantage.

"I give a lot of credit to Brown's defense," Delaney Smith said. "They chipped away at our lead and came back slowly."

After trailing by 14 points early in the game, the Bruins played steady offense to cut the Harvard advantage and hold it to less than eight until the final minutes of the game.

Quick transition plays accounted for the majority of the scoring by the Bruins, who frequently outran the Crimson up the court.

"Our offense felt so good that after we scored there would be a period of a few seconds where we relaxed--and Brown got down the court," Delaney Smith said.

The Crimson offense was its strong point--the women cagers shot a blistering 61 percent from the floor

Crimson, 88-75 at Briggs Athletic Center