W/ BASKETBALL SEASON PREVIEW: W. Hoops in search of title

When Natasha Rezek announced her decision to leave Penn for the 1993-94 school year to study in Moscow, she was coming off a breakthrough year with the women's basketball team. Rezek, a 6-foot-1 center, led Penn in scoring with 13.9 points per game that season and was the nation's 10th-leading rebounder. Her unexpected departure left a gaping hole in the Quakers frontcourt. During her year in Russia, Rezek rarely ever touched a basketball. So when she returned for her senior season last year, there were questions as to how quickly she would regain her touch in the low post. Rezek answered the nay-sayers right away, scoring a career-high 24 points in just her second game back. Rezek continued to prove herself over the course of the season, averaging a double-double on the season and reestablishing herself as one of the premier centers in the conference. While her classmates have hung up their high-tops, Rezek decided to make use of the year of eligibility she saved by going to Russia and return to Penn for a fifth year. Although Quakers coach Julie Soriero can hold off on her search for Rezek's replacement for another year, she has to fill the voids left by the graduation of Shelly Bowers and Katina Banks, last year's starting off guard and small forward. Bowers averaged 11.2 points last year and was one of the Ivy's best long-bombers. Banks was a do-it-all swingman who was third on the team in scoring, second in rebounds, third in assists and first in steals. Soriero appears to have found a more-than-capable replacement for Bowers in sophomore Colleen Kelly. Although she got little playing time as a backup point guard last year, Kelly could be one of the surprises in the Ancient Eight this year. She is a deadly long-range shooter and can create off the dribble. The successor to Banks' three spot will likely be sophomore Hope Smith. With her strong man-to-man defensive abilities, Smith will be given the difficult task of replacing Penn's all-time leader in steals. But the one stabilizing force for the Quakers will be returning point guard Erica McCauley. A superb ballhandler, McCauley can break down a defense with the best in the conference. But unlike last year, when she was merely asked to get the ball down low to Rezek or dish off to Bowers, McCauley will be asked to pick up more of the scoring load. "I was talking to Coach [Soriero] and I think that a realistic goal for me is to come out and be one of the top guards in the league," McCauley said. "I kind of got my foot in the door last year, and I want to start from there and keep improving." Last year, the Quakers relied heavily on McCauley, Bowers and Banks to knock down the outside shot to open up the inside for Rezek and power forward Deanna Lewis. McCauley, as well as Kelly, will have to continue to provide that perimeter game in order to keep defenses honest. "If you were going to look at us on paper from last year to this year, defenses are going to key on our inside game," Soriero said. "So I think what will happen early in the season, a lot of teams are going to key defensively on our interior, not so much on our perimeter." If McCauley and Kelly can give Penn consistent outside shooting, that should open up some room in the paint not only for Rezek, but for Lewis. After missing the first four games last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Lewis never had a chance to show her true ability injury-free. She will get that opportunity this year and will be asked to increase her scoring average from 4.6 points last season. Soriero will get her first look at the new starting five in real-game situations Saturday afternoon, when the Quakers travel to Richmond. Penn will look exploit the Spiders' relatively weak frontcourt by going to Rezek and Lewis early. "They're almost just the opposite of us," Soriero said. "They return good perimeter players and have lost their big scorer inside. They like to put the ball down and penetrate to the basket." Last year, in a three-point loss to Richmond, the Spiders' slashing guards gave Penn defensive problems all day. The season opener should give Soriero some indication of whether the younger players are ready to step in for the departed graduates.