W. Cagers Sweep New Yorkers

New York is a tale of two cities--New York City and every other city. But for the Harvard women's basketball team, New York is a one-story state. In a word: victory.

This weekend, Harvard travelled to the Empire State to face Ivy League rivals Columbia and Cornell. While Manhattan and Ithaca are about as similar as Charles Dickens and Jack Kerouac, the Crimson likes them just the same.

Friday night, Harvard downed Columbia, 69-56. Last night, the Crimson nipped Cornell, 69-68. The wins increase Harvard's record to 9-4, 3-0 in the Ivy League.

"This was a hard road trip before exams," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith. "If you [consider] date and location...for us to leave 2-0 is a test of greatness."

"We passed the test," Delaney Smith added.

Captains' Beth Chandler and Sarah Duncan led the Crimson in both games. Against the Lions, Chandler had 24 points and 12 rebounds; Duncan scored 15. Against the Big Red, Duncan gathered 20 points and 10 rebounds. Chandler had 10 points and 12 rebounds before she fouled out of the game.

The Crimson came from behind in its victory against Cornell. Facing a 38-31 deficit at the half, Harvard rallied and won the game in the final seconds.

Cornell center Patti Froehlich dominated the first half. She had 20 of the Big Red's 38 points and controlled the boards.

"In the first half, we weren't patient," Delaney Smith said. "We never felt like we had control."

In the second half, the Crimson limited Froehlich to eight points and found its offensive game. Beth Wambach's 19 points and Jen Mazanec's 12 helped pace Harvard to its ninth consecutive win versus Cornell.

Against Columbia, the Crimson never trailed. It out-shot the Lions 41 to 34 percent. Columbia received solid efforts from all its players but could not overcome Chandler and Duncan. Columbia is 0-6 versus Harvard since the rivalry began.