Women's Basketball: Undefeated League record at stake

Last year, Princeton achieved two convincing wins over the Crimson. During both games, the Tigers surpassed their opponent by over 10 points. However, last year’s game is a poor example of Harvard’s potential. The Crimson’s 2009-10 team had no seniors and, as a result, was at a significant disadvantage. This year, Harvard (11-6, 3-0) will be at full strength.

Maintaining a perfect 2011 league record through the weekend will be no easy task. Harvard boasts a record similar to the Tigers’ and will be entering Friday’s game with comparable momentum. The Crimson has not lost since an 80-78 game against Boston College early last month, and the team has more than regained its poise since that hiccup. Harvard ran up the score relentlessly against Dartmouth and Cornell in the past few weeks and held convincing leads over both Seattle and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Harvard proved it could play under pressure when the team edged out Columbia by a single point last Friday.

Although both Princeton and Harvard have perfect conference records, they have no common Ivy League opponents. In fact, the only team to face both the Tigers and the Crimson this season was Navy. If the results of these games are any indication, Princeton is well equipped going into Friday’s game.

The Tigers beat the Midshipmen by 13 points when Navy came to Jadwin Gymnasium in December. Although Princeton started the game at a steady pace, they took off in the second half to snag a 74-61 victory. This final-period push, also evident in the Tigers’ games against Yale and Penn, has become a pattern this season.

The Crimson kept pace with Navy during its match at November’s Navy Classic, but when the final buzzer sounded, Harvard was behind by five. Like Princeton, Harvard looked to make up lost ground with a second-half push. Despite strong showings from the Crimson’s Christine Clark and Emma Markley, the Midshipmen’s first-period lead was too much to overcome.

Of course, nobody can say how Harvard and Princeton will match up until Friday’s game plays out. Based on the Navy game’s predictions, however, the Tigers should be able to maintain both their win streak and their perfect conference record.

Princeton won’t have much time to celebrate or mourn Friday’s outcome — the Tigers will need to be in Hanover, N.H. to play Dartmouth by Saturday night. Traditionally, Dartmouth has sparred at the top of the Ivy League with Harvard. One year ago, the Big Green took down the Crimson by a single point. In the 2008-09 season, Dartmouth overcame the Tigers twice, each time by a narrow margin.

This year, the Big Green hasn’t been up to its normal strength. Dartmouth (4-13, 0-3) has fallen hard to both Cornell and Harvard and suffered a six-point loss to Columbia last week. Anything could happen Saturday, but based on the Big Green’s season so far, Princeton’s record should remain untarnished at the end of the weekend.

The Tigers will only play conference games for the rest of their regular season. After this weekend’s games against Harvard and Dartmouth, the Princeton team will need to gear up for a pair of home games against Columbia and Cornell on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Once these games are over, the Tigers will have played each team in the Ancient Eight.