W. Hoops heads west for tourney

When Katina Banks steps onto the court for the Quakers' opening-round game of the Rocky Mountain Invitational, she will stare across the ocean of faces in Moby Arena in search of those special two she has never seen before at a Penn women's basketball game. Oddly enough they seem more at home than any of the others. On this special Thanksgiving weekend, the Quakers' senior guard will be home in the Mile High City. Mable and Clarence Banks will see their daughter play collegiate basketball for the first time in her distinguished career when Penn challenges host Colorado State (15-14 in 1993-94) in its season opener Friday at 7 p.m. "I'm really excited," Banks said. "I haven't been home in over a year because I spent the summer in Philly. It's going to be really exciting first of all just to see my family, but also for them to see me play." Their first time should be a dandy as the Quakers face a Colorado State team on the rise. Led by all-Western Athletic Conference center Teresa James (20.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg), the Rams return four starters from a team which compiled its first winning record in 11 years last season, and came within four points of upsetting San Diego State in the WAC championship. Besides James, who holds nearly every school record at Colorado State, the Rams will look to sophomore Brenda Brunner to light it up from downtown. Brunner led the WAC in three-point field-goal percentage at 42.2 percent last season as the freshman sharpshooter off the bench. Though the inside-outside threat of James and Brunner promises to present problems for the Quakers defensively, Penn coach Julie Soriero believes the Red and Blue can contain the Rams up-tempo transition attack if Penn guards Erica McCauley and Shelly Bowers can control the pace, and force Colorado State into a half-court game. "Their kids are more spot-type shooters instead of put-it-down-and-create," Soriero said. "I think in the perimeter, we are a little bit more athletic than them. "I've been preaching patience with my team all week. Colorado State likes to run about two passes and the shot's gone. I think if we can pressure those two passes, their offense doesn't really flow. We need to get them out of sync by making them have to work on the offensive end. We think they're a little impatient." Penn senior center Natasha Rezek inherits the daunting task of defending James in the Quakers' man-to-man defensive scheme, but Soriero promises she will get plenty of help. "We've watched the film on her and there's a few things we think we can do," Banks said. "We have to play good team defense down low. Her feet aren't very quick so we're looking to do things offensively to maybe get her on the bench for a lot of the game." But just as Soriero has adjusted her defense to accommodate James, Colorado State coach Greg Williams is equally wary of Rezek on the blocks. "Penn's got the kid coming back from Russia who we haven't seen yet," Williams said. "We know she averaged a double-double as a sophomore, so we're real concerned about her. "They've also got a veteran backcourt which always seems to make the offense run smoother, and could create problems for us defensively." But in the thin Rocky Mountain air, backcourt experience may be less vital than backcourt depth, where the Quakers suffered a severe blow Monday. Freshman guard Colleen Kelly, who spells both Bowers and McCauley in the guard rotation, was diagnosed with mononucleosis, and will not make the trip. "This trip will be a test of our depth because of the altitude difference, and just in regards to traveling that much," Soriero said. "Without Colleen, it puts a little more pressure on Erica to play more minutes at point. Our next move is to move Shelly Bowers up to point guard, which puts her in a position she hasn't really worked on this year." If the Quakers defeat Colorado State Friday, they will face the winner of the Tulane-Southern Utah game at 5 p.m. Saturday in the championship game. It promises to be a wide-open tournament. "When we put this tournament together, we tried to create a balanced field," Williams said. "Any one of the four teams could win it." For the Banks family, there couldn't be a sweeter end to the Thanksgiving reunion. "We're going to come back with two victories and a wonderful experience all-around," Banks said.