After convincing victories over Cornell and Columbia this past weekend, the Harvard women's basketball team travels to Princeton this coming Friday night with a justified dose of confidence. The Crimson (5-14 overall, 2-5 Ivy) won back-to-back games for the first time this year and made clear that it is bent on reversing its worst-ever Ivy start (0-5).

"Finally, everyone proved to themselves (against Cornell and Columbia) that we are capable of playing the game of basketball," senior co-captain Cara Frey said.

Harvard faced Princeton on January 8 and played the Tigers close before finally succumbing, 69-56. The Crimson was within four with 55 seconds to play, but stellar Tiger foul shooting, especially by Laura Leacy shooting, especially by Laura Leacy (10-10 from the line on her way 22 points), ultimately sank Harvard.

Princeton is tied for second in the Ivies with a 5-2 record, and had recorded five straight league wins before being upset by Yale this past Saturday, 54-45.

Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith indicated that her squad would press the Tigers, after having called off the Crimson's traditional press against Cornell and Columbia. Harvard's defensive play has been subpar thus far this year--Harvard is shooting only 38.8 percent from the field (492-1,268) compared to its opponents' 41.2 percent (502-1,218).

Yet those numbers have been improving since Delaney Smith relaxed the full court pressure. After 12 games, the Crimson still shot at a 38.8 percent clip, but its opponents were shooting 44.4 percent from the field.

Crimson Stars

Tammy Butler was named this week's Ivy Player of the Week. Against Cornell, she became the first Harvard junior to score 1,000 points, and she is leading the Ivies in both rebounding (13.3 rebounds per game).

In addition, Butler's rebounding average places her among the top five in the country.

Incredibly, this was her first Player of the Week selection. If Harvard individual accolades to pile up for Butler.

Not that Butler is particularly concerned about her own stats--she said she routinely does not know how many points she scores on a given night, and Delaney Smith described her as "the most unselfish player I have had."

Butler joins sophomore guard Elizabeth "Buzz" Proudfit and freshmen guard Jessica Gelman in the awards circle; Proudfit won the Player of the Week award the week of January 3-10, and Gelman won back-to-back Rookie of the Week awards for January 3-10 and for January 10-17.

After a poor start to the season in non-league games, Frey (the nation's leading three point shooter last year at 51.5 percent) has rebounded with strong play in the league.

Frey is averaging 12.7 points per game and 4.3 assists per game in league play, although she is shooting only 40 percent from beyond the three-point stripe.

Opponents are not giving Frey the trey, and she has started to look more for other shots. While she averaged only 7.5 shots per game in non-league play, she is averaging almost nine a game in league play.

Around the Ivies

Dartmouth is leading the Ivies at 6-1, and Princeton and Brown are tied for second at 5-2. Dartmouth was not expected to be a serious contender for the title at the start of the year, but the Big Green, who led for fifth in the league last year, has been revived by Coach Chris Wielgus in her second go-around as its coach.

Brown, the heavy pre-season favorite, was defeated by Princeton, 73-57, last Friday night, only the Bears' third league defeat in the last two years. Brown is led by 6'5" center Martina Jerant, the returning Ivy Player of the Year, and she is the current favorite to repeat in that capacity.

On February 4, Dartmouth handed Brown its first league loss of the year, 59-55, led by a career-high 23 points from freshman guard Sally Annis.

Harvard, with five league losses, seems out of the race. However the Crimson, after leading at the half, lost by only three to Yale, who in turn, defeated Dartmouth, which would make Harvard almost--oh, never mind.