Last year the women took the Ivy title, putting up a stunning 12–2 record in league play. But last year the Bears were paced by superstars Sarah Hayes ’06 and Colleen Kelly ’06, who were two of four seniors to graduate last spring. This year’s less-experienced squad has taken its lumps, including a 60–59 loss in the final second of its December 6 game against Boston University, which dropped the Bears to 2–8. Ashley King-Bischof ’07 led the team with twenty-two points against BU, the kind of play that earned her two consecutive Ivy League Player of the Week awards this season. As this is written, she is the team’s lead scorer and rebounder, averaging fourteen points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

Look for the game against Dartmouth in late January to be the real test of this squad’s strength. The Big Green shared the Ivy title with Brown last year. A strong showing by the Bears would demonstrate that last year’s stunning overtime victory over Dartmouth was not a fluke.