The Harvard women's basketball team swept through its final home stand in a blaze of glory. By winning all four games, the Crimson clinched a share of the Ivy League title and is in position for a first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.
But the team has some unfinished business to take care of before riding off into the sunset.
Harvard (17-6, 10-1 Ivy) will play road games against Brown (10-14, 7-5) and Yale (12-12, 7-5) this weekend. The season finale will be a showdown against second-place Dartmouth (15-8, 7-4) in Hanover on Tuesday.
"It could boil down to be our hardest weekend," freshman Suzie Miller said.
"Yale and Brown have both gotten better," co-captain Elizabeth Gettelman said. "Yale played us the closest that anyone has, besides Cornell."
Cornell dealt Harvard its sole league loss earlier this season.
A single victory in its remaining three games would mean sole possession of the Ivy crown and a ticket to the Big Dance, but the Crimson will not be satisfied with only one win.
"We've already claimed half the title, but a 20-win season is really important to us," Miller said.
"Every game in the Ivy League means a lot," junior Kelly Black said. "Just winning one more game isn't enough. We want to win all three games in the Ivy League."
There would be a special significance to defeating Brown. Historically, the Harvard-Brown rivalry has been particularly intense. Harvard has not won at Brown for the past three seasons.
"We really want to go to Brown and kill them," Black said.
The greatest challenge for the Crimson will be maintaining mental toughness.
"In a certain sense we have already started celebrating, so we have to refocus," senior Katy Davis said.
"We have to play our game rather than getting sucked into their game," freshman Rose Janowski said.
Harvard's game is characterized by an explosive offense that averages over 80 points a game and poses a challenge to opposing defenses.
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