A visitor to Chicago in the winter is immediately confronted with the chilling winds which gust ashore from Lake Michigan.

Two years ago, Harvard women's basketball forward Sarah Duncan swept upon the Ivy League from Chicago with much the same intimidating force, helping the Crimson to an Ivy League championship in her freshman year (1986).

"I loved the Ivy League Tournament in my freshman year," Duncan says. "Beating Dartmouth [in the final] was a big deal--it was so exciting."

In that game, Duncan culminated an inconsistent year with one of her best games, scoring 16 points and helping overturn some critics' opinions that the Crimson didn't belong among the Ivy's best.

"Everyone thought that our sharing the regular-season title with Dartmouth was a fluke," Duncan says, "but that win really proved that we deserved it."

Giving the Crimson a boost of legitimacy has been Duncan's greatest gift to the Harvard women's basketball program.

"Duncan has given us leadership since her freshman year," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says. "She is verbal, enthusiastic and committed to the game."

With Duncan playing in every one of the Crimson's games over the last three years, the team has soared to a 52-24 record. Although Duncan has been an integral factor in the team's success, she is quick to note the importance of this year's crop of seniors, Sharon Hayes and Barbarann Keffer, Nancy Cibotti and Mary Baldauf.

"I can't imagine playing without them," Duncan says. "They've always been here."

This year, the Crimson's experienced lineup has propelled the team to its best season ever. Entering this weekend's action, Harvard has a 19-4 record, leads Darmouth by one game in the Ivy League standings with a 10-1 record and is harboring strong hopes of being selected to a postseason tournament for the first time in its history.

Slam-Duncan Performance

The Crimson owes much of its success to Duncan, who is second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) and has sparked the team defensively in two very different roles.

"We can put Sarah on our opponent's best perimeter shooter because she is so tall [6-ft.]," Delaney Smith says, "or we can put her on their weakest player because she helps out so well. She is an intimidating force inside."

Duncan's total of 66 blocked shots this year is six short of Harvard's season record, which she established in her freshman year. Duncan has now blocked 204 shots in her career.

"Defensively, her quickness and versatility gives us a lot," Tri-Captain Beth Chandler says. "She can guard centers, forwards, or guards."