M., W. Hoops Square Off Against Brown, Yale

Trying to close out the season with a head of steam after a crucial overtime victory against Princeton, the Harvard men's basketball team (11-13, 5-7 Ivy) squares off this weekend against perennial Ivy League cellar-dwellers Brown (4-20, 2-10 Ivy) and Yale (4-20, 2-10 Ivy).

Friday night, the Crimson cagers carry confidence into Providence, both from an earlier 80-62 home win on Jan. 31 and Brown's eight-game losing streak. Despite its record, Brown will send a potent offensive weapon against Harvard.

The Bears boast the Ivy League's leading scorer in senior forward Kamal Roundtree--who averages 18.3 points per game. Rountree is coming off of an Ivy League Honor Roll performance, rolling up 47 points in his past two games. Still, the Bears have not come up with an antidote to the league's most troubling point guard--senior Tim Hill.

In their previous meeting, Hill torched the Bears for a career-high 28 points. He enters the game only one week removed from an Ivy League Player of the Week performance.

"Obviously neither team has that great of a record," Hill said. "Both teams, Brown and Yale, are going to come out with a lot of emotion. They have nothing to lose, so they'll be playing with a lot of energy. Their players will be charged."

Saturday evening, Harvard travels to New Haven to battle archrival Yale in the season's final game. The contest also marks the last one of the careers of seniors Hill, Bill Ewing, Mike Beam and Chris Dexter. Captain Paul Fisher--who is out for the season with mononucleosis--will join his classmates from the sidelines. This Saturday's game also marks the 160th Harvard-Yale basketball game.

The Elis--who fell to Harvard by an 18 points back on Jan. 30--are trying to stop the bleeding in a lackluster season.

Harvard clearly had the advantage in the first contest as backcourt sniper Mike Beam riddled off 24 points on the Eli.

"When you're heading into your last game, you always have to be careful," Beam said. "Things change and players that you might not have been worried about before can suddenly become a problem for you."

"I think we're in a must-win situation now," Beam added. "The seniors want to go out strong, and we want to set the school record for Ivy wins over four seasons. And anytime you have an opportunity to finish over .500, you want to take advantage of that."

With a win over either Brown or Yale this weekend, the Crimson will have completed the most successful four-year period in Harvard basketball history.

W. Hoops Faces Yale, Brown

The Harvard women's basketball team returns to Lavietes hoping to rebound from Saturday's double-overtime loss at first-place Princeton. The Crimson also has a chance to avenge two earlier losses to Ivy League foes Brown and Yale Friday and Saturday night at 6 p.m.

And with a healthy lineup finally free of whooping cough, the cold and the flu, a weekend sweep is certainly a possibility.

For the double victories, the Crimson might need an even better performance from senior center Rose Janowski, who earned a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll last weekend. In the heartbreaker at Princeton (14-9, 9-2 Ivy), Janowski scored six points, dealt out five assists, and hauled down five boards. She netted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the 84-67 loss at Penn (10-13; 6-5).

Unlike the slumping Crimson, Brown (12-12, 7-5) comes into Cambridge as one of four teams still alive in the Ivy title race. The Bears remained in third place by defeating last-place Columbia, 77-64, in a game that saw four Brown players score double digits.

As usual, the Bears were led by a 22-point game from senior guard Vita Redding. Keying in on Redding will be the primary concern for the Crimson defense.

"We're definitely paying most attention to [Redding]," said freshman center Lyndsay Ryba. "She really takes a lot of shots, so we need to reduce her shot count to win."

With Redding leading a talented Brown backcourt, the Bears will challenge the Crimson offense with a fullcourt press.

"We're anticipating that they're gonna press us for 40 minutes like they did last time," said freshman guard Jennifer Monti. "The function of their press isn't really to get the ball, but to wear us down. We've been preparing for that."

The Crimson finishes out regular season play Tuesday against Dartmouth at Lavietes. By winning its last three games, the Crimson can finish the Ivy season above .500.