W. Cagers Gunning for Title

The Harvard women's basketball team swept through its final home stand in a blaze of glory. By winning all four games, the Crimson clinched a share of the Ivy League title and is in position for a first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.

But the team has some unfinished business to take care of before riding off into the sunset.

Harvard (17-6, 10-1 Ivy) will play road games against Brown (10-14, 7-5) and Yale (12-12, 7-5) this weekend. The season finale will be a showdown against second-place Dartmouth (15-8, 7-4) in Hanover on Tuesday.

"It could boil down to be our hardest weekend," freshman Suzie Miller said.

"Yale and Brown have both gotten better," co-captain Elizabeth Gettelman said. "Yale played us the closest that anyone has, besides Cornell."

Cornell dealt Harvard its sole league loss earlier this season.

A single victory in its remaining three games would mean sole possession of the Ivy crown and a ticket to the Big Dance, but the Crimson will not be satisfied with only one win.

"We've already claimed half the title, but a 20-win season is really important to us," Miller said.

"Every game in the Ivy League means a lot," junior Kelly Black said. "Just winning one more game isn't enough. We want to win all three games in the Ivy League."

There would be a special significance to defeating Brown. Historically, the Harvard-Brown rivalry has been particularly intense. Harvard has not won at Brown for the past three seasons.

"We really want to go to Brown and kill them," Black said.

The greatest challenge for the Crimson will be maintaining mental toughness.

"In a certain sense we have already started celebrating, so we have to refocus," senior Katy Davis said.

"We have to play our game rather than getting sucked into their game," freshman Rose Janowski said.

Harvard's game is characterized by an explosive offense that averages over 80 points a game and poses a challenge to opposing defenses.

"Both [Yale and Brown] are pretty good defensively," Davis said. "The key is that we have to pounce on them early."

"Brown has height; that's something we don't have," Gettelman said. "Their forwards don't have the speed that ours do, but they're unpredictable, which is dangerous."

Despite the caveats, the prevailing mood is one of excitement.

This championship season is a last hurrah for senior veterans Davis, Gettelman, Amy Reinhard and Elizabeth Proudfit; it also marks the beginning of a new era in Harvard's promising five freshmen.

The freshmen have certainly absorbed the significance of these games and the emotional investment that they represent.

"It's so exciting to come into a school and be on the Ivy League championship team," Miller said. "The senior class is absolutely incredible; their leadership is tremendous."

"You really catch on to what they [the seniors] are feeling," Janowski said. "You can tell with the intensity that everyone plays with in practice that these games are really important."

The games represent the same dream for seniors and freshmen alike.

"We want to win the Ivy title, not share it," Black said.