Greetings From Philadelphia, Pa.: Harvard can lose nothing by taking things a little slow now, but the Crimson will undoubtedly still be geared for this weekend's contests on the road.
Harvard faced both teams at Briggs early this season, downing Penn 92-69 and Princeton 68-59.
"Penn hasn't fared well record-wise this season," Delaney Smith said, "but they're deep and scrappy."
Harvard's first encounter with the Quakers this season may have resulted in a shattering 23-point victory, but the Crimson wants to get more than just a win from Penn this time.
"Our focus has to be on our game--we need to run hard, attack in transition and pressure them," Delaney Smith said.
The Quakers, who broke a seven-game losing streak last with a win over Cornell, feature two big girls that the Crimson needs to keep off the boards.
6'4" center Katarina Poulsen became a Penn starter mid-season, and 6'1" sophomore Natasha Rezek had an incredible 17-point, 17-rebound game at Cornell Saturday.
Harvard opened its Ivy season against Princeton in early January, and had no trouble disposing of the Tigers.
"Princeton played well, but we dominated the game," Delaney Smith said.
In the preseason, Princeton was dubbed a possible candidate for the league title, but now the Tigers (3-4 Ivy) are holding on to fourth-place with sharpened claws.
"We both opened the Ivy season eying the championship," Delaney Smith said. "I really wonder what their mindset is going to be this time. Being the underdog might change things for Princeton."
Tigers Tina Smith and Kaaren Andrews are one and two in field goal percentage in the Ancient Eight, with .567 and .563 respectively, and junior Laura Leacy garnered 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 8 steals in her last two Ivy performances.
And as always, the state of the league can fluctuate easily.
"Anything can happen on any given night," Butler said. "Having a loss handed to us really reminded us that every game matters."