This weekend's trip to Penn and Princeton by the Harvard women's basketball team should be a study in contrasts.

Look for a high scoring game tonight when the Crimson (2-5 Ivies, 8-13 overall) takes on the Quakers (2-4 lvies, 6-13 overall) at The Palestra. Penn features the league's second highest scoring offense (68.3 points per game in league play) but also the worst scoring defense (allowing 70.0 ppg).

Saturday's match-up against Princeton (5-1 Ivies, 11-9 overall) should be the reverse. Princeton's 57.8 ppg offense is the weakest in the league, but its scoring defense is the best in the lives , Allowing only 49.5 ppg.

By the way, Harvard is sixth in scoring (59.4 ppg) and fourth in defense (65.3 ppg).

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In case you're wondering, the hoopsters have never swept a Penn/Princeton trip. But that's not so bad since this is only their third such trip ever.

Penn leads its lifetime series with Harvard, 9-5, and has won the last five match-ups between the two squads, Princeton holds a 10-3 series edge over the Crimson.

Each opponent won its first game against the Cantata this season. The Tigers beat Harvard. 58-49, at Briggs Athletic Center on January 11. and the Quakers took an 81-63 decision the following evening.

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Harvard is tied for sixth place with Cornell in the league standings (each 2-5). Brown (6-1) and Princeton are atop the Ancient Eight.

Thought-provoking stat of the day I: no Ivy team has won more than half of its non-league contests.

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Only two Harvard players are among the Ivy leaders for league play. Barb Keffer is second in assists (45 assists in 7 league games) and Co-Captain Anna Collins' 54.7 field goal percentage is also second best in the league.

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Thought-provoking stat of the day 2: the Crimson has come back from a halftime deficit to win four games. That represents half of all its victories.

Thought-provoking stat of the day 3: Yale has beaten the Cantabs 11 consecutive times, and holds a 14-1 series advantage. The only Ivy team which Harvard has a series edge on is Cornell. The cagers are 9-2 against the Rig Red.

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Women's ice hockey Coach John Dooley had Wednesday night's game against the University of Connection videotaped. Unfortunately, the camera broke midway through the third period, and one of the Crimson's nine goals was not recorded. The scorer of that goal was none other than Dooley's daughter, Christine.

But who ever liked home movies, anyway?

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Harvard's scoring explosion against the Huskies pushed the ice women ahead in the goals for/goals against category. The Cantabs have now tallied 74 times in 18 games, as compared to their opponents' 69 tallies. Through nine Ivy League contests, they have outscored the opposition, 28-25.

Freshman Julie Sasner's four-goal, two-assist performance against UConn was the best individual scoring show of the year for Harvard. Both Karen Carney and Kelly Laundry had three-goal games earlier in the season, and Pam DiRubio turned in four assists one night, but Sasner's six points stand alone.

In fact, they tie the single-game scoring record set by former players Kathy Carroll and Dinne Hurley in 1963-84. Sasner, who currently has a total of 20 goals on the year, needs only three more to tie the season mark for goals scored, also held by both Carroll and Hurley.

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Crimson netminder continues to lead the regular Ivy starters in goals-against average. Her 2.77 mark is almost half a goal better than Simone Feinhandler's 3.26. Feinhandler splits the net minding duties for Princeton with Sue Gouchoe, who leads the league with a 1.50 g.a.a., but has only played in two games.

Kimmel's progress during the season is reflected in her save percentage. After six games it stood at 766, after 12, .802; now, after 18, it has reached 826. And over the span of those last six games, her save percentage is an impressive. 875.

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Massachusetts natives account for 55 percent of Harvard's goals, with contributions from Liz Ward (13), Laundry (10), Carney (8), Dinny Starr (4), Genic Simmons (4), Pam DiRubio (1), and Linda Runyon (1).

Tri-Captain Landry, now second on the squad in scoring with 29 points (behind Sasner's 31), leads the Crimson in assists with 19. She and Starr, another tri-captain, have been the squad's most consistent scorers, each notching at least one point in all but three contests

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