W. Hoops striving to finish third

The last time the Penn women's basketball team faced Brown and Yale, it was a team on a mission. In the middle of a five-game winning streak, the Quakers could do no wrong. "Penn outplayed us," Yale coach Cecelia DeMarco said after the Quakers thrashed the Elis, 63-49. "They're a hot team, but we'll be ready for them next time." Next time is here, as Penn (10-15, 7-5 Ivy League) travels to New Haven, Conn., and Providence, R.I., this weekend. Though the goals of the Quakers' mission have changed slightly, there will be few surprises waiting when the teams meet again in Penn's last two games of the season. "I'm expecting hard-fought battles, but we'll come out with two wins," sophomore guard Erica McCauley said. "Since we have a lot of seniors, everybody wants to go out with a win. We have to end on a good note." Balance was the key to the Quakers' home victories over Yale (9-14, 3-8) and Brown (10-13, 6-5). Penn had three starters in double-figures in each game. Senior guard Shelly Bowers led the Quakers against Yale with 20 points. Senior center Natasha Rezek was the heroine against Brown, scoring 22 points and pulling down 13 boards to win the "Battle of the Centers" against the Bears' Martina Jerant. These were Penn's most accurate shooting games too. The Quakers over 41 percent from the field in each. Penn will offer a different look against the Bears. When the teams met at the Palestra, Brown senior guard Tammy Sanchez lit up the Quakers for 21 points and grabbed five rebounds. The six-foot-four Jerant added 17 points and seven boards. The game went into overtime, with Penn pulling it out 74-70. While there is little the Quakers can do to counter Jerant's size, they intend to change the matchup on Sanchez. Instead of pairing Sanchez with McCauley, as in their last encounter, Bowers will be assigned to tag the powerful guard. Penn hopes Bowers will be able to prevent Sanchez from penetrating into the paint. "Considering we won both games last time, I don't think we have to change much," McCauley said. "We have to come out from the start. We didn't do that here. On the road that's really important, to set the tone. If we play our game and do what we're capable of, we'll be fine." Penn's shooting from the floor has averaged 36.9 percent this season. However, last weekend against Columbia the foul shooting floundered, as Penn shot only 53.8 percent from the charity stripe. The next night against Cornell, the Quakers were only 6 for 22 from beyond the three-point arc. The Elis have lost seven of their last eight games, with their only victory coming against winless Columbia. However, senior forward Mary Kalich broke Yale's all-time scoring record last weekend. Though only a junior, guard Kathleen Offer is already the school's all-time assist leader. The Quakers will be keying on that duo tomorrow night. "I'm going in with the same work ethic and desire to win," senior forward Shelly Dieterle said. "Focusing on our game and not letting the environment around us is important. It's something that we've worked toward for four years. I think that will be in mind for all of us each game this weekend." A sweep would give the Quakers a third-place finish, their best in five years. In addition, Penn's four seniors want to go out with a winning weekend, and the rest of the team is determined to give it to them. "We have a lot of confidence," senior co-captain Katina Banks said. "We'll be ready to step up and take the challenge."

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