The hated ones are back on top.
When the Harvard women's basketball team completely outplayed arch-rival Dartmouth in a 73-67 victory in front of 2,035 fans at Lavietes Pavilion on Jan. 7, it appeared that The Big Green and its captain Courtney Banghart had retained none of the chemistry from last year's championship team.
But six weeks later, Banghart is the Ivy Player of the Week, and Dartmouth is in sole possession of first place.
This was supposed to be a fairly uneventful weekend in conference play. Penn, Dartmouth, and Harvard were in a three-way tie for first, and with none of the three in action against each other, it was expected to stay that way.
But Brown and Columbia proved to be capable spoilers. The Bears, who previously had been winless in league play, pulled of a shocking 75-56 win over Harvard (14-7, 7-2 Ivy) on Friday night. Then a day later, the lowly Lions won 70-67 against Penn.
Dartmouth (16-6, 8-1), meanwhile, posted easy wins over Brown and Yale to stretch its win streak to ten. After sitting a game back of Penn and Harvard for much of the season, the Big Green found itself on top once again.
The Big Green's recent run of blowout victories can be primarily attributed to Banghart's return to last year's form.
In an 82-69 win on Friday over Yale, she racked up a career-high 31 points. Banghart could have had more, but after helping to build a commanding 53-26 lead at halftime with 22 points and five treys, she earned some rest.
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