Naturally, Harvard made the most of the situation, and Ides easily converted the basket. By the time Ides left the game, she had six points, the Harvard lead was 56-37 and the game was essentially over.

In Harvard's 61-58 win over Cornell on Friday, Ryba only played four minutes and never scored, but the confusion caused by her very presence created four points for Harvard.

Ryba, unlike your usual 6'3 forward in Ivy women's basketball, tends to play around the perimeter. In what must have been the most absurd-looking play ever in the eyes of the Cornell, Ryba took the ball at the top of the arc and passed to 5'6 junior guard Jenn Monti in the low post for an easy short jumper.

Then on the subsequent position, Ryba caught the defense off guard by taking a three. A slight hesitation from Cornell was all Tubridy needed to get the rebound and put it back in the net. Although these plays were commonplace to anyone used to seeing Ryba play, the Big Red did not know how to deal with them.

The Crimson will need to use its depth to its advantage to have any chance of winning its showdown against Penn at the Palestra in Philadelphia next Friday. With a win, Harvard would push itself back into a tie for first place. The Quakers have now won 11 games in a row--including a win over Brown on Saturday--while making scarce use of its bench.

"They play five players that are connecting, so there's an advantage to playing five and a disadvantage to playing five," Delaney-Smith said. "They're connecting well, but they're struggling. They haven't had an easy win in the league."

Saying that Penn just plays five players is a slight exaggeration, especially considering that its top player off the bench, freshman Jewel Clark, single-handedly carried the Quakers to victory over Brown in the final minute on Saturday. But Penn did put just seven bodies on the court throughout the game, while Harvard played 10 in its close victory over Cornell.

There is also much to be said about there being the disadvantages of playing too many players, as the team that endlessly cycles bodies in and out of the game can bring massive confusion onto itself. Such was the case the last time when Harvard visited the Palestra.