A bit of normalcy returned to the Ivy League standings last weekend, as the Harvard women’s basketball team regained first place in the conference with its home sweep over Columbia and Cornell this past weekend.

The Crimson, the media’s preseason favorite to win the conference, opened the weekend with an easy 79-57 win over Columbia (10-10, 4-3 Ivy) Friday night before holding off Cornell (12-9, 6-2) in a matchup of the league’s top two teams Saturday. The 64-58 victory gave Harvard its sixth-straight win and ninth win in its last ten games.

Harvard (15-5, 6-1) takes the over the Ivy top spot with most of its toughest games already out of the way. A trip to Cornell in two weeks figures to be the Crimson’s toughest remaining test.

“We’ve been on the road a lot, and we’ve played through injuries, and we’re still in first place,” Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said.

Harvard will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts Princeton and Penn next weekend. The Princeton game will give the Crimson a chance to avenge its only Ivy loss of the season.

Harvard 64, Cornell 58

Cornell entered Saturday night’s contest never having beaten Harvard in 22 opportunities.

With the Ivy League lead on the line, the Crimson wasn’t about to let that streak end just yet.

Leading 36-34 early in the second half, Harvard held the Big Red scoreless for more than six minutes as it slowly extended its lead. A pull-up jumper by freshman center Reka Cserny with 8:26 left gave Harvard its largest lead of the night at 53-39, and it looked like the the Crimson would easily close out another win.

Cornell, however, would not relinquish its Ivy lead quietly.

Down 59-47 with two minutes left, the Big Red mounted a furious rally, which was aided by several Harvard miscues. When Cornell forward Lynell Davis stole a backcourt pass intended for Cserny and converted the easy layup, the Big Red had cut the lead to three, 59-56, with still forty seconds left to go.

“We got a little tentative, conservative and cautious and that got us in trouble,” Delaney-Smith said. “We will not let that happen again.”

Guaranteed at least one more possession, Cornell could have attempted to hold Harvard on offense and then hope to tie the game with a three. Instead, the Big Red immediately fouled sophomore guard Dirkje Dunham, putting her on the line for a one-and-one opportunity.

Dunham was only a 68 percent free-throw shooter at the time, but she made both of her foul shots, giving Harvard a comfortable five-point cushion.

The foul line had been unchartered territory for much of the game, as the officials kept their whistles in their pockets despite some physical inside play. Only eight fouls were called in the first half, and neither team attempted a free throw for the first 18 minutes of the second half.