Going into Saturday night's Harvard-Dartmouth women's basketball match-up, the Ivy League season was, in effect, over.

The other six Ivy teams already had closed out their league slates, and Dartmouth had clinched the league crown with a sweep of Cornell and Columbia the previous weekend.

Statistically, the game really wouldn't mean much. Despite the outcome, Dartmouth still would have its title and Harvard still would finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Nevertheless, Saturday night's season finale with the Big Green--in which Harvard prevailed, 82-69--proved to be the cagers' biggest game of the season.

Dartmouth hit the court like it owned it--but soon found out that Briggs Athletic Center is the property of the Crimson.

With the win, achieved before a crowd of more than 200 fans, Harvard handed Dartmouth only its second league loss of the year.

"We were always the underdog last year," Hanya Bluestone said. "We went into this game as the underdog, and we rose to the occassion."

The Crimson (13-13 overall, 8-6 Ivy League) did more than just beat Dartmouth. It surpassed the Big Green in almost every aspect of play.

Shooting 55 percent from the floor, the women cagers executed their offensive plays with a smoothness and consistency they had been lacking all season.

"The ball movement to create the open shots was unbelievable," Harvard Assistant Coach Dale Snyder said. "They had touch passes where they just knew they were going to be there."

Back and Forth They Go

Harvard traded baskets with Dartmouth until seven minutes into the game, when Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith inserted junior Mary Baldauf and freshman point guard Heidi Kosh into the line-up.

Kosh, Baldauf and junior Co-Captain Sharon Hayes played better together than they had all season, dishing off three assists apiece and throwing up unexpected shots from outside that were consistently on target.

A few minutes later Harvard snared the lead for good, and by halftime the Crimson had extended its advantage to seven points.

The women cagers didn't even bother to hit the locker room for coaching during the half. They remained on the court to watch a skit staged by Co-Captain Trisha Brown's family and friends in honor of the senior's last game.