For both the Harvard and Princeton women's basketball teams, this is crunch time.
With just one month remaining in the season, the Ivy crown comes down to this Friday's game between the Crimson (11-6, 4-1 Ivy) and the Tigers (14-5, 4-1 Ivy) at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium.
Both teams are coming off successful weeks, each boosting its tallies in the win column by three. Harvard squeaked by New Hampshire (81-79) and Yale (67-63), then buried Brown (88-63) to cap off the week.
Meanwhile, Princeton rallied over Rider (64-56), crushed Columbia (65-31) and edged Cornell (82-76).
The Crimson was led by guard Elizabeth Proudfit, who scored her 1,000th career point against Yale on Friday. In addition to reaching the milestone, Proudfit contributed 40 points, six rebounds, 13 assists and five steals last week.
Forwards Allison Feaster and Rose Janowski also submitted particularly strong performances for the Crimson.
Feaster pulled down 14 boards against New Hampshire, 11 against Yale and nine against Brown, while Janowski ignited the Crimson with 24 points in only 35 minutes of play off the bench last week.
Princeton forward/guard Kim Allen was unstoppable last week on her way to earning Ivy League co-Player of the Week honors with Cornell guard Mary LaMacchia.
Allen almost single-handedly kept the Tigers in the Ivy race, amassing 58 points, 27 rebounds, four assists, seven steals and one blocked shot in only three games.
LaMacchia, like Proudfit, surpassed the 1,000-point mark last week, helping Cornell (9-9, 4-2 Ivy) steamroll Penn, 74-50. Her 17 points were not enough to propel the Big Red over the Tigers, however.
The loss left Cornell a half game behind Ivy leaders Harvard and Princeton and tied with Brown for third.
Before succumbing to Harvard, Brown (7-11, 4-2 Ivy) tallied its third-straight league win by downing Dartmouth, 68-64. Center Chris Yasaitis and Vita Redding, the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, led the charge for the Bears.
Yasaitis recorded 26 points, 18 rebounds, 17 blocks and two steals in the contests, while Redding notched 35 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
Forward Bess Tortolani kept Dartmouth (11-6, 3-2 Ivy) above the .500 mark with 30 points, 13 rebounds, eight steals and seven assists last week in the loss to Brown and a 65-54 victory over Yale. Guard Sally Annis passed the 800-point mark for the Big Green in the process.
Despite losing two last week, Yale (7-11, 2-4 Ivy) was sparked by guard Kathleen Offer's 23 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Guard Jodi Brandt also put her name in the Elis' record books with her 85th career trey.
In the battle of the cellar-dwellers, Columbia (2-16, 1-5 Ivy) won its first league game in almost two years by pounding Penn, 61-49.
Guard Rose Jackson led the Lions with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists last week, while Quaker center Natasha Rezek was a force in the middle with 61 points, 33 rebounds, three assists and two steals in three games.
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