W. Hoops stalls against St. Joe's

Offense vanishes in 53-41 loss Showing that even new habits are hard to break, the Penn women's basketball team followed the same path to disappointing defeat last night against St. Joseph's that it has followed in every game during the first part of the 1993 season. The Quakers (0-2 Big 5, 0-5overall ) turned in a very strong showing against the favored Hawks (2-0, 3-1) for the majority of the game at Temple's McGonigle Hall. But they allowed that performance to be overshadowed by a complete offensive breakdown during the game's latter stages that let St. Joseph's to pull away for the 53-41 victory. With a little less than eight minutes remaining in the contest, Penn was trailing the Hawks by just three, 44-41, due mostly to a stellar defensive effort that limited St. Joe's starting five to a combined 16 points. But the Hawks' lack of offense to that point was nothing compared to the drought that was about to hit the Quakers, as Penn went scoreless for the remainder of the game. Even after a turnover by freshman point guard Erica McCauley led to a clutch three-pointer by St. Joe's guard Megan Compain that gave the Hawks a 49-41 lead, Penn still had more than three minutes to try to make up the deficit. But the only things the Quakers were able to generate on the offensive end during the next few minutes were a shot by senior co-captain Katarina Poulsen that was blocked by Compain and a travelling call on senior captain Julie Gabriel. By then St. Joseph's had stretched its lead to 10, and all Penn could do was foul as time ran out on the Quakers' eighth-straight Big 5 loss. "We were taking shots and not converting, and we were also not taking the shots when we should have," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "At the end of the game, it's a matter of exhausted players not doing the things they need to do to create shot opportunities." The Quakers were not exactly lighting things up offensively earlier in the game either, but they were able to stay right with the Hawks thanks in large part to the performances of Poulsen and junior guard Shelly Bowers, who scored 18 and 17 points respectively. Bowers led the Quakers in the first half with 10 points while playing all 20 minutes, and Poulsen kept Penn in the game during the start of the second half, hitting key baskets whenever it seemed as if St. Joseph's was about to pull away. The problem with the fact that Poulsen and Bowers combined for 35 points was that the entire Penn team only scored 41. Gabriel, fellow forward junior Shelly Dieterle and junior guard Katina Banks shot a combined 0-for-10 from the field. Just as troubling to the Quakers as the poor shooting percentage is the fact that the trio only averaged about three shots apiece. "It is a concern – I can't figure it out," Gabriel said. "We need to do a better job of getting the open shot. It was two of the best games Kat and Shelly have played all year, but the rest of us are going to have to step up more." Penn's overall inability to execute its halfcourt game spoiled its effectiveness in fighting off the Hawks' vaunted full-court press. When a team is able to break the press as successfully as the Quakers did up until the end of the game, it is supposed to have easy chances for baskets. Penn hardly was ever able to convert those opportunities. "We did a great job against the press but we didn't attack as well as we could have," Bowers said. "Once we got past it we couldn't get anything going. We didn't look to pass enough." The bright spot for the Quakers as a whole was undoubtedly their defense. In addition to leading the team in scoring, Poulsen keyed a defense that almost completely shut down the Hawks' inside game. Forward Audrey Codner, St. Joseph's leading scorer, was held to zero points, as was center Cindy Jakubowicz. While reserve Tonya Wenger did score 14 points inside, most of those came against Penn reserve players. Compain added 15 from outside, including three treys, but aside from those two no other Hawk could get anything going offensively. But all the sweat and tears expended by the Quakers on defense went for naught because of their problems on the other end of the floor. "Defensively we did a really great job," Soriero said. "But it's a matter of putting everything together. Against St. Joseph's, against that level of competition, no matter what else you do you can't be successful when you have lapses like we had."