The Bears' title hopes appear to be fading fast, as the team has lost three straight Ivy games after a surprising 5-0 start. Since falling to Penn two weekends ago, Brown has been stymied at Cornell and Columbia, both of whom Harvard defeated at Lavietes the week before.

In the continued absence of leading scorer Barbara Maloni, the Bears have been led by Rachael MacDonald who is averaging 10 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The Crimson defenders will need to be tougher on her tonight in order to prevent a repeat of last month's disappointment, in which MacDonald burned Harvard for 18 points. Forward Rada Pavichevich is also averaging 10 points per game for the Bears.

Maloni, one of the nation's top ten scorers before her injury, has now missed 11 consecutive games since being sidelined with stress fractures. Maloni is reportedly practicing with the team again, but Harvard's schedule may be perfectly aligned to avoid her altogether this season.

For the Crimson, junior forward Katie Gates is on hot streak. She led the team with 13 points against Penn last Saturday and scored a career-high 16 the next day against Princeton.

Peljto--who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the third time on Monday--continues to lead Harvard in scoring and rebounding. She had 18 points and paced Harvard's second half comeback against Princeton last week.

Tomorrow at 6 p.m., the Crimson will host Yale (6-15, 1-7). Sophomore guard Maria Smear--one of the nation's most accurate three-point shooters at 44.2 percent--leads the team with 11.8 points per game. In Harvard's 54-40 win at Yale on Jan. 12, the Crimson held Smear to single digits. Harvard is the only team to hold Yale under 50 all season.

Although the Elis may be last in the league, they have come closer than anyone else in the Ivies to beating Penn. At home on Feb. 2, Yale took a five-point lead into the final two minutes before falling 92-80 in overtime. In comparison, the Quakers handled Harvard, 65-51, at the Palestra last Saturday.