W. Hoops at a crossroads

There isn't much doubt about it – the Penn women's basketball team is at a crossroads as it prepares to take on the Delaware tomorrow night at the Palestra (7 p.m.). The game is the last for the 0-5 Quakers for 16 days, so if they are to reverse their trend of coming up short and enter the crux of their schedule with any sort of momentum, this game is the time to do it. "This game is going to set the tone for how we come out next semester," Penn assistant coach Tina Costello said. "Delaware is comparable to other teams we will be meeting in the Ivy League, so this is a big test for us. We need to meet the challenge." Penn's biggest challenge tomorrow night is to avoid the lapses that have been the prime cause of most of its defeats. Against St. Joseph's two nights ago, the Quakers stayed right with the favored Hawks for most of the contest, but went scoreless for the final eight minutes as St. Joe's pulled away to win by 12. Any kind of repeat of that performance against the Fightin' Blue Hens will undoubtedly spell the Quakers' downfall. Perhaps the surest way for Penn to play a complete 40-minute game is to work a majority of the players into the flow of the offense. Against St. Joe's, senior center and co-captain Katarina Poulsen and junior guard Shelly Bowers combined for 35 of the team's 41 points. The Quakers need more players to step up offensively and take good shots to prevent the offense from stalling as it has at times during previous games. This may be easier said than done against Delaware's attacking, man-to-man defense, which is predicated on forcing the opponent into turnovers that lead to fast-break opportunities. "They're going to try to put a little pressure on us and try to get us to turn the ball over," Costello said. "We need to play within ourselves and execute a little bit more [than against St. Joseph's]. We need to take the good shot opportunities and just put more into our offense." While the Quakers will look to maximize their scoring ability by getting as many people involved as possible, the fact is that Poulsen may again be their best bet offensively. Despite having several players standing six feet or taller, Delaware has no one with any experience who can match up with the 6-3 Poulsen. Sending the ball down low frequently will also keep the ball away from the Blue Hens' pestering guards. The inside game should be key to Penn on defense as well, since Delaware will be looking to go there often. Its two leading scorers are center Merel van Zaten (16.0 points per game) and power forward Colleen McNamara (12.3). If the Quakers can produce the same unyielding inside defense that they did two nights ago, when St. Joe's two starting inside players were held scoreless, the Blue Hens may be forced to rely on their backcourt. That is a scenario that Penn would like to see occur, as Delaware's guards are not known for their shooting prowess or their ability to drive to the basket and create shots via penetration. While a win may not be in the cards even if all of these facets fall into place for Penn, the Quakers feel they can achieve a sort of victory even if they don't come away with a win. Penn thinks it is good enough to at least make a game out of tomorrow night's contest, and a strong all-around performance will be enough to convince the team that it has what it takes to be competitive when Ivy League play gets underway in about a month. "I think we need to do the things we're capable of doing and hope things go well," Costello said. "I'm not predicting a 'W,' but I think we can be in the ballgame."