W. HOOPS NOTEBOOK: Perretta is inspiring

Two weeks ago the Penn women's basketball team was blown out at Villanova. After the devastating loss, Penn coach Julie Soriero made an unusual request to the opposing coach, Harry Perretta. She asked him to address her players. "We played at Villanova and lost," Soriero said after the game. "He was saying what a great effort we had, and I said, 'Hey Harry, why don't you come in and tell them that, because they only hear it from me.' "He walked in the locker room immediately after the game and said it. My kids gave him their attention and respect. For Harry to come in and say, 'You played great defense. You work harder than anybody we've seen,' that's really encouraging." The Quakers have taken Perretta's message to heart. Since his post-game speech, Penn is 3-1, including an upset victory over Princeton Saturday. Penn's only loss came against Loyola-Maryland, a team that routinely plays Top-25 competition. "I'll settle for a reputation that says we're not afraid to play anybody," Soriero said. "I think our schedule has shown that consistently. We might not beat teams, but I know they leave the floor and they respect us." While respect for Penn may be building, its shooting percentage is still a paltry .350. Despite hours of practice, the offense has not been consistent. The Quakers showing against Princeton was much improved as they shot 43.4% from the field. Penn needs to continue this trend in the future. Several Quakers have turned in individual performances worthy of Ivy League recognition. Senior guard Shelly Bowers is averaging 4.4 assists per game, placing her fourth in the Ivies so far this season. She ranks second on Penn's all-time list. Senior center Natasha Rezek is third in the Ivy League with 7.7 rebounds per game. She had 14 boards in the Quakers' last game against Princeton. Senior co-captain Katina Banks is closing in on the Penn record for steals. Averaging 2.4 per game, she needs only 17 more to top the all-time list. "Success begets success," Soriero said. "Everyone feels good when they win. Everyone feels their playing time is right." While the Penn bench has been rising, senior forward Shelly Dieterle has been sinking. Despite leading the team with 19 points against Delaware back in December, her starting berth has often been filled by the more-powerful sophomore Deana Lewis. "Everybody thinks I'm trying to prove a point," Soriero said. "I think we have a lot of depth and I want to be able to use that depth, so you put them in different positions and challenge people differently." With the way Penn has been meeting the challenges of its opposition, the Quakers may have finally hit upon a winning combination. Perretta certainly thinks so.