Uncertainty is the only certain thing about Ivy League women's basketball. Even though some perennial powerhouses are always favored to capture the Ivy crown, don't be surprised if a darkhorse unexpectedly appears on the horizon.

"There always is someone in the Ivy League [who] surprises you and emerges," said Harvard Head Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith.

Early-season polls have predicted that Penn, Dartmouth and Harvard will be the main teams in contention for the championship by the end of the season, but teams such as Brown and Yale, which return this season with deeper, more experienced rosters, will try to play the role of spoiler.

Don't make any postseason bets yet.

Brown

After suffering a six-year drought since its last Ivy title, Brown is poised to make a run at the league championship again this season. The Bears will rely heavily on sophomore guard Barbara Maloni, who averaged more than 20 points per game last season and was named second-team All-Ivy for her offensive prowess.

Maloni made her mark on Brown's record books last season after lighting up Penn for 40 points as a freshman, destroying Brown's single-game scoring record.

With five rookies and seven returning players, Head Coach Jean Marie Burr will depend on the leadership and athleticism of centers Rachel McDonald and Keri Larkin to anchor the team.

MacDonald, an explosive offensive force, averaged 11.0 points and 8.1 rebounds last year.

Burr will also be watching newcomer Miranda Craigwell, who was the first player in her high school to score 1,000 points. Craigwell will benefit from McDonald and Larkin's guidance.

Maloni's accomplice in the backcourt, Rada Pavichevich, also runs a fluid offense. Her ballhandling and defensive abilities complement Maloni's skills nicely. Pavichevich averaged 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last year.

Erin-Kate Barton is the leader of Brown's rich forward ranks, but she will vie with new faces for playing time this season. Described by scouts in high school as nearly impossible to defend, 6'1 freshman Nyema Mitchell will push Barton for playing time. Their battle for minute will be the subject of much scrutiny.

Columbia

Even though Columbia has little chance of winning the Ivies, don't be surprised if the Lions foil the postseason plans of a few other teams in the league.

The Lions' hopes for a championship season were crushed when 6'3 sophomore Shaunte Edmonds, who had averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game during her rookie season, decided to leave the team.

Its league opponents, however, should remember that Columbia has always relished the role of the surprise spoiler, shocking both Penn and Harvard last season while both teams were grappling for position atop the league.

In Edmonds' absence, senior Shawnee Pickney will anchor the frontcourt. Pickney led the team last season with 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and will lead a relatively young corps of forwards. Assisting Pickney will be sophomore Katie Day, who averaged 5.1 points and 4.3 boards in only 13 minutes of play in her rookie year.

To balance the lack of depth at the forward position, Columbia will rely on two sophomore guards who showed great potential on the court during their rookie seasons.

Patricia Kern proved a solid player at the point, accumulating 101 assists over the year and averaging 5.5 points a game. Her partner in crime, Megan O'Neil, is less of a playmaker but a consistent at the line, an invaluable skill during critical moments of the game.

Cornell

With a deeper roster and more experienced players, Cornell is ready this season to make its championship hopes a concrete reality.

With a quick first step and great instincts on the court, junior guard Deborah Stevens leads a talented corps of Big Red players. Stevens' versatility paced the Big Red in the 1999-2000 season, as she averaged 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while racking up 80 assists and 49 steals over the course of the year.

Junior guard Breean Walas will also attract attention from defenders after averaging 8.5 points per game, shooting 51 percent from the field and hitting 84 percent from the penalty stripe.

Sophomore Katie Romey is considered deadly from long-range, and Coach Marnie Dacko expects senior forward Jennifer Linker to provide even more offensive firepower.

Among Cornell's unknown factors is freshman Dani Aretino, an intimidating presence around the net. Aretino and fellow rookie Tanya Karcic will compete for playing time at the forward position this year.

Dartmouth

Dartmouth, which has won four Ivy titles in the last seven years, including the last two, will suffer this year from the graduation of two-time All-Ivy star Courtney Banghart. Banghart anchored the Big Green offense, setting the Ivy record for career three-pointers.

However, several players on Dartmouth's roster seem ready to step into Banghart's shoes. Power forward Katharine Hanks, the top rookie in the league last year, averaged 15 points per game last season and led the team with 6.9 boards per contest.

"I wouldn't have thought that Dartmouth would have been as strong as they were last year, but Katherine Hanks turned out to be quite a player," Delaney-Smith said. "[She] could just do it all."

Sherryta Freeman and Stephanie Kinnear are two seniors who will provide the Big Green leadership and experience after Banghart's departure. They are slated to start in the backcourt.

Even though she played only 22 minutes a game, Freeman averaged six points a game and was second on the team with 44 steals. Helping Freeman and Kinnear in the backcourt will be senior Samantha Berdinka and sophomore Kerri Downs, who led the state of Massachusetts in scoring as a hotly recruited high school senior.

The Big Green expects Katie Skelly, who nursed a stress fracture last year, to make a significant offensive contribution this season. Jen Johnston, who performed well at the

NCAA Tournament when Dartmouth almost upset defending national champ Purdue, will also lend experience to the team.

Pennsylvania

Quakers Head Coach Kelly Greenberg had it pretty easy during her first season at the helm last year.

Penn averaged a school-record 76 points a game and accumulated an impressive 18-10 (9-5 Ivy) record last season under Greenberg's guidance, finishing second in the Ivies.

Greenberg, however, should have thanked All-American Dana Caramanico for such a great welcome into the league.

Caramanico, who has already broken Penn's career scoring record, will attempt this season to break the record of Allison Feaster '98. During her first three years at Penn, Caramanico has averaged 22. 6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, and is known as one of the most intimidating players in the league.

Last year, Caramanico made a national name for herself by averaging 24.8 points per game, good for second in the nation. Because of her uncanny ability to create her own shot, opponents must defend her both in the lane and on the perimeter.

Juniors Julie Epton, who averaged nearly 10 points and six rebounds per game last season, and Jessica Allen will bolster the frontcourt alongside Caramanico.

However, the backcourt will suffer this season after the graduation of explosive offensive threat Mandy West. Senior Erin Ladley, who saw limited playing time behind West last season, and sophomores Jennifer Jones and Tara Twomey will be expected to take up West's slack.

Princeton

Although the term "rebuilding year" attempts to focus on positives, it also refers to teams unlikely to repeat the success of previous seasons after losing several key players.

Barring a minor miracle, the Tigers will not be a serious Ivy contender this season. After losing their top two players to graduation a year ago, they will continue to regroup under newly-named interim Head Coach Kevin Morris, who ran Fordham's program for seven years before coming to Princeton.

Co-captain Jessica Munson, the only senior on the roster, will lead the young Tigers' attempt to stay out of the Ivy cellar. Munson herself averaged only 5.3 points a game last season, and will have to rely on other players for on-the-court leadership.

Junior forward Lauren Rigney averaged six points and almost four rebounds per game, and sophomore Allison Cahill led the team in scoring last year with 7.0 points per game. The rest of the young Princeton roster will fight for playing time.

Yale

With a talented, experienced roster hungry to prove itself as a legitimate contender, the Bulldogs seemed on the verge of a breakout season in 1999.

After a subpar start, the Bulldogs underwent a serious makeover and cruised to a 9-5 record in their last 14 games. Senior Alyson Miller, a second team All-Ivy selection who shot 52 percent from the field, catalyzed this tremendous streak. She racked up 12 points and seven boards per game during Ivy play.

Miller is gone, and her replacement is one of several questions surrounding the Bulldog starting five.

The identity of the starting point guard remains a mystery, but senior Sara Perkins, who returns after a two-year absence, will fight to see significant playing time at the point.

Sophomore Maria Smear, who was named to the All-Rookie Team, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 11.3 points per game. She is also a deadly shooter beyond the arc, connecting on a team-best 40 shots from downtown last season.

The Bulldogs also have experience inside with senior center Lily Glick and sophomore Helene Schutrumpf leading a deep corps of forwards. With Lisa Kaegi also fighting for playing time with Glick, Yale has a roster full of offensive weapons that might launch the Bulldogs toward an Ivy championship.