AT COURTSIDE: Defense keys romp

The number 29 shone bright and clear on the Palestra scoreboard as the final seconds ticked off the clock to mercifully close Penn's 65-29 women's Big 5 drubbing of Temple last night. It looked conspicuously out of place -- more likely to be a malfunction than the monument to 40 minutes of defensive intensity it actually was. Twenty-nine points. That was all the Owls could muster against Penn's suffocating man-to-man defense. The game was over by halftime when a demoralized Temple team trudged into the locker room trailing by more than twice as many points as it had scored at 32-10. "We've gotten our doors blown off quite a few times this year, but this the first time I felt like we just stopped playing," Temple coach Charlene Curtis said. "A lot of that had to do with Penn's defense. I thought they played very aggressive man-to-man. We've had problems all year with teams that were in our faces defensively, and I think it really took a toll on us in the first half." In opening period, the Owls recorded nearly as many turnovers (17) as field goal attempts (18). The Quakers extended their man pressure to halfcourt and often forced the young Temple guards into costly blunders before the ball ever reached the frontcourt. Twenty-nine points. Temple freshman sensation Claudrena Harold had scored four more the night before against St. Bonaventure by herself. Against the Quakers, Harold was a non-factor as Penn senior forward Katina Banks shadowed her over every inch of hardwood. For much of the game she kept the Owls' explosive guard from ever touching the leather. Harold finished with only eight points, and five of those came with Banks on the bench. "Basically, my main focus was defensive intensity," Banks said. "I knew she was their leading scorer coming into the game. I just tried to keep the ball out of her hands, and if she did get the ball I played her tough. "I think I had a lot of help on defense, too, when there were picks or screens. We played good individual defense, but we played great team defense." Better, in fact, than the Quakers have all season. Entering last night's game, Penn was allowing its opponents to shoot a respectable 45 percent from the field. The Owls managed only 23. Granted Temple has been streaky offensively all season, and the Owls shot themselves in the foot on more than one occasion last night. But the Quakers also played with a combination of fundamental discipline and focused intensity on the defensive end they had only shown in small stretches earlier in the season. Penn came up with loose balls and dove for passes destined for the seats. They helped each other in the paint and drew charges. They called out screens. They pushed. They held. They did all of the little things defensively that they haven't done consistently all season long. "I think this is the best defense we've played for 40 minutes all season," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "Our intensity never stopped in this game, and sometimes in previous games it has. "Temple has the potential to put points on the board. They have good players who can challenge you in a one-on-one situation. I'm pretty proud of holding them to twenty-nine points."