AT COURTSIDE: Full-court press causes guards difficulty

The pressure was on last night at the Palestra. Since the Quakers were unable to respond to Lehigh's defensive pressure throughout the game, they put the pressure on themselves in the final minutes before escaping with a 73-69 victory. After blowing an 11-point lead on three separate occasions during the contest, Penn could never finish off the Engineers. In fact, the game was tied at 69 in the final minute before a layup by Penn senior Katarina Poulsen and a pair of free throws by freshman Erica McCauley secured a Quaker victory. The reason for Lehigh's resiliency was a frenetic full-court press that caused 16 Quaker turnovers and disrupted the flow of the Penn half-court offense. Luckily for the Quakers, this stifling defense was not employed for the entire game. "We didn't feel that we could use the press for the entire game because [Penn senior forward Julie] Gabriel adjusts so well," Lehigh coach Jocelyn Beck said. "I felt that we had to pick our spots and we did so effectively." The Engineers employed the pressure to force three Quaker turnovers in the final two minutes of the first half and cut an 11-point deficit to only seven going into intermission. Due to this success, Lehigh attacked more regularly in the second half, and the results were the same. "We panicked against their press," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "We just didn't create any space and our inbounders were not reading the situations well." Although Penn has been plagued by turnovers all season, the reasons for last night's troubles were of a different nature. Junior point guard Shelly Bowers, who had been prone to making ball-handling mistakes early in the season, dished out 11 assists while committing only one turnover. Yes, one. How does a team turn the ball over 16 times when its point guard is guilty of only one? The answer lies in Lehigh's pressure, which took the ball out of the experienced Bowers's hands. Junior guard Katina Banks and McCauley were forced to help bring the ball up court more often than they are accustomed to. Each coughed the ball up three times, flustered by the Engineers' attacking style. The Penn guards were guilty of trying to dribble through the press, often with their head down, instead of making quick and crisp passes to open teammates. This either led the Quakers into Lehigh traps or forced them to take wild shots. When the guards panicked, the entire flow of the offense was disrupted. As a 32-percent field goal percentage would indicate, Penn's shot selection suffered. However, when the offense was not riled by the Engineer press, it was quite effective, mostly because of its balance. Four starters scored 12 points or more. "We have the kind of offense that can provide us with that kind of diversity," Soriero said. "We just need to see more consistency." The consistency suffered last night because Penn was often throwing blind passes, forcing shots or battling the 30-second clock due to the Lehigh defensive pressure. Even when the Quakers were able to crack the press, they found themselves struggling to get into any rhythm on offense. "We have to make better decisions out on the floor," Gabriel said. "We're not at all happy about the way we performed against their pressure." Another result of the Lehigh full-court press was the increased productivity of the Engineer offense. Not only did they score some easy transition layups, but Penn defenders were often trapped out of position, leaving the Lehigh shooters wide open. The Engineers converted these opportunities by draining 7 of 16 three-pointers and shooting 40 percent from the floor in the second half. Although the Quakers hung on to win the game, their sloppy performance could have long-term effects against more competent opponents. This weekend's Ivy League foes, Cornell and Columbia, had scouts in attendance last night, and if they noticed anything, it was Penn's inability to handle a full-court pressure defense effectively.