Rezek comes back, W. Hoops drops 2

Natasha Rezek is back, and she did not come quietly. On the court for the Penn women's basketball team for the first time in more than a year, Rezek was named to the Rocky Mountain Invitational all-tournament team this weekend. But Rezek's valiant effort both offensively and defensively was not enough to bring the Quakers a victory. Penn lost to Colorado State, 69-50, Friday and to Southern Utah, 75-56, Saturday. Point guard Erica McCauley fractured her hand against Colorado State, and backup Colleen Kelly didn't make the trip after coming down with mononucleosis. That left senior Shelly Bowers, who had not practiced at the point, to run the offense. "They crawled all over us," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. Rezek dropped 12 points in 29 minutes in her first outing since returning from a year abroad in Russia. The senior's four-for-15 performance from the field was tops for Penn, but still rusty. "You could tell the first night she was searching for timing, trying to make things happen that hadn't happened in a year," Soriero said. "Her shooting percentage was lower than she wanted?.She should have been more patient with herself and made some different decisions," Soriero added. Rezek took the shot over the pass in most situations. It looked like Penn might be able to pull out a victory against Colorado State when the Quakers huddled at halftime. Penn was behind by only one point. "I wasn't surprised they kept close in the first half," Ram coach Greg Williams said. "I watched them on tape and I knew they had some returning players." But Penn was just barely hanging on. Earlier in the half, McCauley had fractured her hand and the Quakers were crippled by the loss. McCauley will be out for four to six weeks. "[McCauley] runs everything," freshman Renata Zappala said. "Losing her was rough." Although Bowers played in that position the past three years, she had no preseason point-guard experience. Williams' squad picked up on it immediately. "One of the problems we had was having to switch the lineup," Soriero said. "As soon as they realized what happened with our point guard, they started to put on a lot of pressure?.To say the position is weak is an understatement." Colorado State's defense was relentless until the end. With the added pressure, Penn struggled offensively in the second half and did not have the energy to recover its defense. "We lost momentum," Zappala said. "We were making bad decisions on the floor." Both teams had a 33.3 field-goal percentage in the first half, but in the second half, the Rams held the Quakers to 23.3 percent, while they improved to 40.5. "Our depth and playing at altitude were beneficial factors for us," Williams said. "We were pretty tough. We were able to keep rotating players in, particularly inside." Colorado State even stepped up their offense when leading scorer Teresa James sprained her ankle just six minutes into the game. Freshman Zenarae Pieters came in, put 11 points on the scoreboard and brought down 10 rebounds. With that kind of depth, Penn did not have a chance against the Rams in the second half. "We played outstanding defense," Williams said. "In the next game, we held Tulane to 21 percent, it wasn't a fluke thing." Despite the difficulties adjusting to new positions, the Quakers' bench showed promise in the Colorado State game. Zappala scored 10 points in her first collegiate game. "It went surprisingly well," Zappala said. "I had the opportunity to score and I was glad that I did." Against Southern Utah, Penn's young bench was silent, but Rezek made a resounding appearance. Rezek came out shining, pouring in 24 points -- nearly half of the Quakers' total offense. Rezek also brought down 13 rebounds to earn her spot on the all-tournament team. Penn's starters came out strong with a 12-6 opening run. Senior Shelly Dieterle had a big game with 10 points for the Quakers. But without any help from the bench, Rezek, Dieterle and Bowers could not pull out the win alone. "The second night, [Bowers] did a really good job," Soriero said, "but she needed support around her." "The first night we had the bench," Zappala said. "The second game the starters picked up the game and we just didn't go with them. We had opportunities but didn't convert." The Quakers moved to within five points in the second half after trailing by 11 at the break. But they could not beat the deficit. Problems executing plagued the Quakers throughout the series. "Sometimes when you try so hard on offense you can't pull together on defense," Soriero said. "They totally dominated the boards." Southern Utah devastated the Quakers with its fast breaks, and Penn still was having problems with its rotation. "We weren't all together," Dieterle said. "We weren't setting a good screen or cutting hard to the ball. There was a lot of indecisiveness." The Quakers did not expect to begin their season drastically adjusting their lineup or depending on a strong bench, and they did not expect to lose so definitively. But with Rezek just warming up, there is some promise. "It is not the best way to start," Rezek said. "I'm glad it didn't happen in January. It was sobering."