The National Basketball Association's most dreaded monster is not Akeem Olajuwon or Charles Barkley but the western road-trip--the one swing west of the Mississippi that each eastern team must make every year.

It has brought the best to its knees--just look at the current problems of the Boston Celtics these past two weeks--because the travel is sometimes just too much to mantain a team's concentration.

The Harvard women's basketball team survived the first half of its own western roadswing this year, topping Cornell Friday night, 62-50, and Columbia the following night, 87-67.

The Crimson dominated the Big Red, leading at halftime, 34-12, with most of its reserves getting a lot of playing time.

"Cornell was not very strong, and their starting pointguard [Karla Kelly] was injured," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith said. "They were forced to play Metzger at point, which made our press all that more effective."

However, that same press almost destroyed Harvard against the Lions, thanks to some excellent coaching by Columbia Coach Nancy Kalafus.

"Columbia adjusted well after our first game and as a result, the press hurt us," Delaney Smith said. "Our players were taking chances in the press and not making the proper adjustments on the perimeter, which allowed them to drive on us. It also forced us into defensive rotation which made it tough to rebound against Gilbert [The Lions' freshmen center who grabbed 22 rebounds Saturday night]."

But it was the traveling, not its opponents or their fans, which gave the Crimson the most difficulty this weekend.

"It was a really physical weekend for us," Tri-Captain Beth Chandler said. "It's hard to play after the long bus rides and we're going to get the same problems next week."

Harvard will be trying to extend its seven-game winning streak and protect its two-game lead in the Ivy League with games this Friday at Princeton and the following night in Philadelphia against Penn.

"Princeton will probably credit our last victory over them [76-49 at Briggs Cage] to their tired legs and our fresh legs, but I think we are clearly the best team in the league," Delaney Smith said. "We just have to play to our potential on the road."

Harvard must yet again overcome history, though, having topped the Tigers only once in nine contests in Princeton's lair, Jadwin Gym.

"But this has been a season of firsts," said Delaney Smith, alluding to her team's premier victories in Hanover against Dartmouth, in New Haven against Yale, and here against UMass last week.

Following the conclusion of its western roadtrip, Harvard (18-3, 9-0 Ivy) will finish its Ivy League season at Briggs Athletic Center against Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth the following weekend. The Crimson can clinch its first outright Ivy League Championship by winning four of its last five games.

MILESTONES: Harvard's win over Columbia on Saturday put the team's all-time win-loss percentage over .500 for the first time since the 1982-'83 season. The Crimson's record is now 169-168. The team's ninth Ivy League win also topped last year's total of eight...Chandler scored her 500th career point against Cornell Friday night...Forward Sarah Duncan pulled down her 500th career rebound in the team's 81-64 win over UMass last week. The junior is well on her way to breaking Harvard's all-time rebounding mark, currently 757 career boards snared by Elaine Holpuch '83...Seniors Sharon Hayes and Nancy Cibotti played in their 100th career games against Columbia and will probably break the all-time record for games, currently held by Anna Collins '86 and Trisha Brown '87, against Yale on March 5.