Princeton. Penn. Dartmouth. It all comes down to three final adversaries for the Harvard women’s basketball team.

If the Crimson (17-7, 9-2 Ivy) can keep its momentum going through Tuesday, it will realize its dream of an Ivy League championship.

At the beginning of the season, the team had high expectations. “Looking at the Ivy records, we knew we could be at the top,” junior center Reka Cserny recalled.

The team entered the season as a force to be reckoned with—and now, with three games left, it is back on top of its game.

“Disappointment and hard fought battles” have marked the season, according to Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. But in the end it’s the “defense that wins the games.”

“We all feel and truly believe that we are the best team in the Ivy League,” junior point guard Laura Robinson said. After a very successful weekend, she has no reason to think otherwise.

Last Friday, the Crimson trounced Yale by a score of 67-30.

The same evening, Dartmouth suffered an upset loss to the Brown Bears, allowing the Crimson to creep closer to the Big Green at one game behind.

The next day, Harvard defeated the Bears, effectively knocking out its only remaining challenger for Dartmouth’s first place position. With the game tied at 64 and only 3:41 left to play, the Crimson defense stepped it up, outscoring the Bears 13-4 to capture the win­—sweet revenge for a loss to Brown earlier in the year.

For Robinson, the win was the most exciting part of the season. “As a team we came together and played a great game,” she said. “We dealt with 2,000 screaming Brown fans and overcame the noise.”

With three games left in the season, Harvard and Dartmouth (14-9, 10-1 Ivy) are effectively the only contenders left for the Ivy League Championship.

The Crimson faces off against Princeton (13-12, 5-7 Ivy) tonight at Lavietes Pavilion. They take on Penn (15-10, 8-4 Ivy) tomorrow and the Big Green on Tuesday.

“Each team is very different and each game is very big,” Delaney-Smith said.

The Crimson must win each game in order to stay in contention for the championship.

In no way is the team writing off Princeton and Penn based on Harvard’s success against the two squads earlier in the season.