W. Cagers Pop Penn; Get Back in Ivy Race

The greatest living philosopher strikes again.

While he was probably shooting the breeze on a baseball diamond somewhere in Arizona, Yogi Berra's wisdom was being reaffirmed on two basketball courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey last night.

The Harvard women's basketball team demolished Penn, 78-59, at the Palestra in Philadelphia, and Princeton edged Dartmouth in overtime, 76-74, at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton.

And the Ivy League battle for first place is definitely not over.

The Crimson now stands at 9-3 in the Ivies, and The Big Green falls to 10-2. Today the rivals switch opponents: Harvard challenges the Tigers, and Darmouth meets the Quakers. A Crimson victory will mean that it can play Dartmouth for a share of the Ivy title Tuesday in Hanover.

Harvard dominated the Quakers. It outshot Penn from the field, 56 percent to 32 percent, and outrebounded the Quakers, 41 to 36. The Crimson shut down Penn's offense, allowing only one player, Rose Ann Lucas, to score in double digits.

"We learned our lesson and hopefully not too late," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "We did everything we were supposed to do, offensively and defensively."

A total team effort powered Harvard, and a few records fell in the process. Co-Captain Beth Chandler's 10 rebounds gave her 236 for the season, breaking the record of 231 rebounds established by Wendy Joseph '85 in 1984. With 11 assists last night, Heidi Kosh set a new record for single-season assists, eclipsing the old record of 128 set by Barbarann Keffer '88 in 1985. Kosh, a junior point guard, now has 139 assists this year.

The Honor Roll

Co-Captain Sarah Duncan led all scorers with 15 points. Sophomore Beth Wambach scored 12 points--going five-for-seven from the floor and two-for-two from three-point range--and guard Hanya Bluestone added 10 points.

"We came here to play," Delaney Smith said. "We tried to find that offensive rhythm that we've been missing."

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard will be trying to beat Princeton in Jadwin Gym tonight for the first time since the 1982-83 season, and now would be the best time to reverse that trend...The Crimson nipped the Tigers in the two squad's first meeting, 65-60, on February 3 at Briggs Cage.