Women Cagers Set to Guard Ivy Lead

There comes a certain point in the season of any team contending for a championship.

The point in the season where every game is a big game.

The point where every weekend is a big weekend.

For Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith's women cagers, that point has arrived.

"To get to this point has taken a lot of hard work, especially for our older players," Delaney Smith said. "This has been an exciting, thrilling season and I hope for their sake that we can continue to play and improve like we have."

The first-place cagers (10-5 overall, 4-1 Ivy) now face their toughest challenge of the season. Winners of three of their last four and six of their last eight games overall, the hoopsters host Yale tonight and Brown tomorrow night in what is undoubtedly the biggest weekend for the Harvard women's basketball program since the squad moved into Briggs Athletic Center five years ago.

That's not to say that the pre-break, weekend sweep of Penn and Princeton wasn't big. It was. It's just that each weekend until the Crimson either clinches or is eliminated gets bigger.

And bigger and bigger.

The Crimson is coming off a 76-67 loss to the University of Massachusetts, but both Delaney Smith and the players were satisfied with the squad's performance.

"I'm happy with the way we played," Co-Captain Trisha Brown said. "I definitely think we can sweep this weekend. We just have to relax and play our game."

Sophomore forward Sharon Hayes still leads the team in scoring (9.9 points per game) but Barbarann Keffer (9.7 p.p.g.), Brown (8.9 p.p.g.), and Anna Collins (8.5 p.p.g.) are not far behind.

Coming off her 24-point performance against UMass and leading the Crimson in both steals and assists, Keffer figures to play a prominent role this weekend.

Sarah Duncan, the freshman forward from Chicago, continues to lead the team in both field goal percentage (48 percent) and free throw percentage (90 percent) and is well ahead of the field in blocked shots with 32.

There is one sour note for the hoopsters as they head into the big weekend. Co-Captain Anne Kelly sprained an ankle in practice yesterday afternoon. The availability of the junior guard will not be known until later today, but Delaney Smith said the outlook is not good.

But Harvard isn't the only school playing host to the Elis and Bruins this weekend, nor is Harvard alone atop the Ivies.

The Big Green of Dartmouth, which remains tied with the Crimson at 4-1, also entertains Yale and Brown as the season heads into its final month.

Should Harvard and Dartmouth both sweep, it would probably be a two-team race the rest of the way (see Ivy standings below). Any other scenario would confuse the picture even more than at present, including the possibility of a three-way tie by Sunday morning.

But a sweep is certainly no certainty.

The Elis lead the overall series with Harvard, 15-1, and the Crimson has not won since 1976. Brown got off to a slow start but is currently boasting a three-game winning streak, including two straight Ivy triumphs.

Nail Yale

Three Elis scored in double figures when Yale Knocked off the Crimson, 64-48, earlier in the year at Payne Whitney Gym. Sue Johnson--who averaged 18.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in earning All-Ivy honors last season--was high scorer (14 points) and high rebounder (nine) while teammates Karen Yarasavage and Randi Meberg each helped out with 11 points and two rebounds in the November encounter.

Yale likes to apply a lot of pressure, double-teaming, denying passing lanes, and fronting down low. Delaney Smith said that she has instituted two new offenses--designed specifically to handle this kind of pressure--since the squads' last meeting.

"We allowed them to take us out of our offense last time," the fourth year coach said. "We are pretty confident that that is not going to happen this time."

Tonight's game has particular significance for Harvard Assistant Coach Missy Park, who after graduating from Yale last year (following four years of varsity basketball there) is now in her first year of coaching for the Crimson.

"It's a tough situation," Park said. "This is my least favorite game of the season, because some of my best friendships are with [Yale] players.

"Its hard to wipe away a situation like this in one year," the ex-guard continued. "My emotional attachments are with Yale but my professional attachments are with Harvard."

The Crimson won the first matchup with Brown, 71-66, despite the 53 percent field goal shooting of the Bruins. But that victory came when starting point guard Kerry Kelly (last year's Ivy assist leader) was out with an injury and when former Ivy Player of the Year Michelle Smith--recipient of Ivy Player of the Week Honors the past two weeks--was not playing up to par.

"We were able to capitalize on Kelly's absence," Delaney Smith said. "Our spirit is high now and without an off night, I think we can win both games."

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard is fourth in the Ivies in scoring offense (63.0 points per game) and first in scoring defense (59.8 p.p.g.)... The Crimson is fourth in team field goal percentage (41 percent) and second in free throw percentage (69 percent).

Ivy Standings   Ivy  Overall School  W  L  W  L HARVARD  4  1  10  5 Dartmouth  4  1  9  8 Yale  3  2  7  8 Brown  2  3  6  9 Penn  1  2  2  12 Cornell  1  3  6  9 Princeton  0  3  4  10