These days, the Harvard women's basketball team couldn't be happier.

Second only to the Brown Bears in Ancient Eight standings, the Crimson (10-11, 7-2 Ivy) travels to New York this weekend to take on league doormats. Columbia (4-18, 1-9 Ivy) and Cornell (7-15, 3-7 Ivy).

And if everything goes Harvard's way, the squad could return to Cambridge with a share of first place.

Two events must occur for this to become reality.

First, the Crimson must defeat both the Lions and the Big Red--two relatively simple tasks, seeing that Harvard easily bested both teams earlier in the season.

Second, Brown must lose to either Princeton or Pennsylvania, which is extremely plausible since the Tigers and the Quakers are both talented teams, hungry to knock off the first-place Bears.

The one thing that Harvard must guard against is a letdown coming off an exhilarating two-point overtime victory over Princeton last Saturday.

But Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith isn't thinking about that possibility.

"There's no way--that's not possible with his group of people," Delaney Smith said. "We've gotten this far entirely on attitude--everyone has a great attitude."

Lowly Lions, Struggling Big Red

Harvard successfully muzzled the Lions in their previous encounter at Briggs Cage, but Columbia did manage to deliver a respectable performance during that contest, capitalizing on the Crimson's poor defense and lack of offensive flow.

That game provided the stage for Kerry Lunz to burn Harvard with her surprising red-shot shooting.

Tonight, the Crimson must stay focused on its game plan--strong defense, consistent rebounding and intelligent offense.

"We just have to play our game," Delaney Smith said. "We get into trouble when we get away from our offense or if we play lousy defense."

During the second half of the season, Lunz has developed into one of Columbia's best players, leading her squad in scoring with 10.2 ppg. Freshman Daria Brown continues to be the team's high rebounder with 8.3 rpg.