W. Hoops looks to break skid at Delaware

Last year, the women's basketball team came up with its first victory of the season against Delaware just days after St. Joseph's ripped the Quakers apart. Once again, the Quakers find themselves picking up the pieces following their game against the Hawks. St. Joe's came through the Palestra like a hurricane Wednesday night and left Penn devastated after a 76-48 loss. Once again, the Quakers are preparing for Delaware still hungry for their first victory. Penn (0-4) will travel to Delaware tomorrow at 1 p.m., hoping last year's history will repeat itself. In last season's Delaware-Penn contest, the Quakers did not just win -- they sent the Fightin' Blue Hens squawking, 72-59. Delaware coach Joyce Perry is expecting another tough challenge from Penn this time around. "Penn has played us very tough the last two years," Perry said. On the offensive end of the court, Penn is expecting a lot of pressure on senior point guard Shelly Bowers. Opposing teams have been picking up on the fact she is substituting for injured sophomore Erica McCauley, who broke her hand earlier in the season at Colorado. The opposition has pressured Bowers so much that Penn coach Julie Soriero had senior guard Katina Banks bring the ball down the court while Bowers called the plays in the Wednesday night loss to the Hawks. Penn committed 18 turnovers that night. But Bowers is hardly slacking. Last year she was Penn's second-leading scorer, and she has continued to be a force for the Quakers despite the adjustments she has had to make. She had six points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals against St. Joseph's. Against La Salle last Thursday, she poured in 15 points and had seven assists. "I think she played well [against St.Joseph's] considering they were in her face all night," Soriero said. "She put up good numbers.?Even though she wasn't the person handling the ball, I think people are comfortable with her. She has done a good job." Soriero is looking to the forwards to step up and take more control of the scoring. The Quakers have had a difficult time capitalizing on their offensive opportunities. In fact, Penn took a total of 60 shots on Wednesday, six more than the Hawks. The shots are there, but they have to start falling if Penn hopes to get its first victory. "I hope we shoot the ball better," Soriero said. "We have to take the open shots with confidence. We had a total of 21 shots from our 'four' and 'five' players. They did the right things, but those shots have got to be made." At center, the Quakers are hoping that senior Natasha Rezek's five-point performance on Wednesday was a fluke -- she was averaging 16.6 points entering the contest. Rezek scored a career high 24 points against Southern Utah in only her second game since returning from a year in Russia. The Quakers are hoping that game will be more indicative of her future performance. "I don't think there is any way Natasha Rezek will go 1-for-11 two games in a row," said Perry. Whether or not Penn can get its offense together, it will have a difficult time containing Delaware's. Four Blue Hen starters routinely score in double figures, including returning seniors Colleen McNamara and Beth Santee. McNamara scored 27 points, more than half of Delaware's total output, against the Quakers last year. But with Delaware's talent spread out over many positions, the Quakers will not be able to focus their coverage just on McNamara and Santee. "I think we've got good balance," Perry said. "We are seeing a lot of different people stepping up."