Cagers Cream Ivy Crop

The Harvard women's basketball team leaves the friendly confines of Briggs Cage to begin a four-game Ivy League road trip against Cornell tonight and Columbia tomorrow.

The Crimson, now on top of the Ivies with a 7-0 record, will be looking to increase its current six-game winning streak against the Big Red. Columbia has never beaten Harvard in four contests since the Lions started playing Division I basketball two years ago.

The Crimson easily swept the two teams at Briggs earlier in the season, beating Columbia, 87-65, and crushing Cornell, 80-52.

"If we lose a game in the Ivies, it'll only be because we beat ourselves," said Tri-Captain Beth Chandler, exemplifying the team's confidence after winning its last three games by an average margin of 21 points.

Senior guard Mary Baldauf missed Tuesday night's win against UMass with a bruised elbow, suffered when she fell trying to sky for a rebound last weekend. Her status for this weekend's games is still questionable.

Water Wizardry: Both of the Crimson swimming teams are coming off easy victories over Cornell. The women swimmers' triumph sets up an exciting weekend at Blodgett Pool. Tomorrow, Harvard (6-0 Ivy) meets undefeated Penn (6-0) in a dual meet for the Ivy title.

The nation's number-one ranked Harvard women's squash team takes on a much-improved Dartmouth squad in Hanover tomorrow. In early February, Dartmouth finished in a tie for second place with Princeton in the Howe Cup, behind first-place Harvard. The racquetmen defeated the Big Green, 7-0, in the tournament.

"The match should be closer than the first time, since we're playing on their home courts," Sheila Morrissey said.

"They don't have any outstanding players at the top," Harvard Co-Captain Diana Edge said. "Their bottom players are very strong for their positions. The pressure will be the on the middle of the line-up."

The nation's number-one ranked Harvard men's squash team will host Penn tomorrow at Hemenway Gymnasium. While Penn isn't expected to upset the Crimson, match still is important for seniors. Co-Captain Russ Ball, James Gilfillan, Darius Pandole and Co-Captain Jack Polsky will be playing in their final home match for the Crimson.

After Penn, the Crimson will travel to Yale, where the Ivy and national nine-man titles will be decided. Yale has an 11-0 record, which will be challenged tomorrow when the Elis face off against Princeton in New Jersey. Princeton's only loss came at the hands of the Crimson, 6-3, earlier this month.

Pinned Down: The Harvard wrestling team (1-2 Ivy) will travel to Providence tomorrow to take on Brown...The women's fencing team will travel to Cornell tomorrow in a big Ivy match...The volleyball team will host Yale and MIT at the Malkin Athletic Center tomorrow afternoon...Both track teams will travel to Yale to take on Yale and Princeton tomorrow afternoon...Fencers Michelle Kosch and Amy Newhart will participate in the Junior Olympics in Cleveland Feb 20-21.

Quote of the Week: "They're a pretty good team. We put the clamps on them and stung them...like a bee."--Harvard squash player Jim Masland, referring to the team's 9-0 destruction of Dartmouth last Wednesday.

Mike Stankiewicz contributed to this article.