W. Hoops guns for St. Joseph's

At St. Joseph's, defense is a religion. From the moment a Hawks women's basketball player first sets foot on the hardwood, she is indoctrinated with the fundamentals of the faith -- a disciple of the St. Joe's tradition for defensive excellence. Penn will have to find a way to tarnish the Hawks' sterling reputation for defense if it is to get its first ever win against St. Joe's after 19 straight losses. The Quakers (0-3, 0-1 Big 5) host St. Joe's (2-0, 1-0) in the second game of a Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra tonight at 8 p.m. La Salle and Temple will face off in the evening opener at 6 p.m. "Defense has always been an emphasis of mine," Hawks coach Stephanie Gaitley said. "We put a lot of time into it in practice day in and day out. We don't even begin to practice offense here until our defense is where it needs to be." Last year, that defense found itself ranked No. 1 in the nation, allowing a paltry 53.9 points per game. Though St. Joe's starting lineup features four new faces this season, the Hawks have yet to allow an opponent to crack the 50-point mark. "Right now I think we are as good defensively as we were last year," Gaitley said. "It's hard to say for sure being this early, but our kids stepped in our first two games and didn't miss a beat." Nor did St. Joe's miss taking a peek at the game films of Penn's 75-64 loss to La Salle. The Quakers committed 28 turnovers and collapsed under the Explorers' full-court press early in the second half. For a team that lives to apply defensive pressure, Penn's makeshift backcourt of Shelly Bowers and Katina Banks could not be a more ideal target. "Bowers is a good shooting guard and scorer," Gaitley said. "But we can put added pressure on her with our press." The Quakers will try to counter the Hawks' plans with a little defensive pressure of their own. "We've been working a lot defensively in practice week because we broke down a little against La Salle," Penn senior forward Shelly Dieterle said. "They are good athletes and they have some dangerous shooters from the outside, but if we can get pressure on the perimeter they may be a little weak inside." On the offensive end, the Quakers will try to rediscover some of the magic that allowed them to shoot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half against La Salle. Penn must get the ball inside and into the hands of its leading scorer, senior center Natasha Rezek (16.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg). Bowers and Banks must also limit the number of turnovers between them and keep the Quakers within their offensive sets. "They help each other well inside," Penn coach Julie Soriero said of the Hawks' defense. "We've got to take open shots when they're there. The other thing is we have to get to the free throw line. They may be the number one defensive team in the country but you can't play defense on a free throw." Penn may also be able to take advantage of the Hawks' relative inexperience. St. Joe's carries six freshman on its roster -- the most in the program's 22-year history -- and starts two sophomores in forward Megan Compain (16 ppg) and guard Nikki Jones who have a limited number of minutes under their belts. Soriero believes the Hawks may be particularly vulnerable on their front line. "I think their inside game lacks experience," Soriero said. "They start two kids who did not start last year, and then they go to their bench for freshmen. We hope to get them into early foul trouble so we can see a lot of those younger players. " If history has its way, the Quakers will be in for a long evening. Aside from the fact they have never beaten St. Joe's, Penn has won only two Big 5 games in the last decade. But with the Quakers playing its first game of the season before the Penn faithful, the time may be right for an upset that is well overdue. "It's a special game," Soriero said. "It's a Big 5 game. It's part of a doubleheader on our own home court of the Palestra. I can see a lot of good stuff happening."