Senior guard Courtney Banghart, last year's leader with 14.9 ppg and 83 steals, is one woman whose spot is safe. Banghart led the country with 3.5 three-pointers per game last year and added 70 assists for good measure.

The other guard spot will be a fight between three juniors. Samantha Berdinka saw action in all but one game last year. Sherryta Freeman has a reputation as a defensive stopper with a creative offensive streak. Finally, Stephanie Kinnear dished out 53 assists and also started four games.

Swing player Liz Martin, the other senior, is also the other Big Green leader with a semi-secure spot. She averaged 6 ppg and 4.8 rpg. Jackie Lippe and Jen Koch will fight for the power forward spot, and 6'3 freshman center Heather Hanson will try to fill O'Connor's shoes. Four other freshmen will add depth to the relatively young Dartmouth team.

"We are a balanced ball club; we have depth in all our positions," Wielgus said. "The more games we win, the better our confidence, and the more prepared we will be for Ivy play."

4. HARVARD

For team preview, please see page S-1.

5. CORNELL

When a team returns all five starters from the year before, logic dictates that the team should be as good or better than the year before. Unfortunately for the Big Red (11-15, 5-9, t-6th), that means improving on last year's record and joining the league's top teams, which does not seem likely.

Luckily for Cornell, though, things are looking up. Last year's record was the team's fourth-best ever and this may be the first season since 1972 the team breaks .500. Also, the team's close losses to Penn and Princeton at the end of the season provided added confidence and momentum.