With reading period having come and gone, the majority of the Harvard community has a week and a half of finals to endure before settling in for a relaxing month of J-Term. But for the population of student-athletes that find themselves on the Crimson sports teams that compete during the winter season, the end of finals period signals the start of practice schedules even more rigorous than the ones they already have, as the second half of the winter season kicks off in earnest.

The Harvard men’s basketball team looks to continue its winning ways as it seeks to extend its current two-game winning streak, but the Crimson has its work cut out for it when it takes on the No. 6 UConn Huskies, who have gone undefeated in their first seven games of the season.

The women’s basketball team takes on Sacred Heart on Dec. 22, hoping to end the recent trend of alternating wins and losses by avoiding the loss that the pattern dictates and picking up a win. Neither of Harvard’s basketball teams has played a conference game yet, but both begin the Ivy League schedule against Dartmouth in January, as the men go up to Hanover on Jan. 8 and the women host the Big Green on Jan. 15.

Both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams have already played several ECAC conference games, with the men posting a 2-7 record in the conference and the women a 4-2-2 record. The men will look to end their seven-game losing skid against Army on New Year’s Day while the women will try to notch another win for their conference record against Union when they return to action on Jan. 7.