Quakers fall to Lafayette

Rezek scores, 1,000th career point, but Penn still winless In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is punished by the gods, and is forced to keep pushing a huge boulder uphill until he gets to the top. Every time he gets near the peak, however, the boulder rolls back to the ground. Metaphorically speaking, the Penn women's basketball team has had the same problems, especially in their last two games, as they came close, but just failed to get over that hump and win their first game. The Quakers' 13th shot at win No. 1 again fell short in a 69-60 loss to Lafayette last night. When Penn (0-13) hosted the Leopards yesterday at the Palestra yesterday, the Quakers were hoping for a turn of events against a Lafayette (3-12) team which has also seen more than its share of losses this season. Penn began the game in the form that earned it its previous 12 losses -- not scoring until its eleventh possession, five minutes into the game. Quakers coach Julie Soriero was already holding her head in her hands only one-and-a-half minutes into the game after watching her team commit five turnovers (three forced) in its first five possessions. As Lafayette coach Pat Fisher shouted commands at her players, the Leopards threw Penn out of their game with consistent full court pressure, a tough man-to-man defense and Tiffany Bedics, who scored 12 of her 20 points in the first half. "We gave up penetration," Soriero said. "We had a couple of really dumb fouls? I thought we got lazy on defense. They got 21 points from the free throw line, and you just can't win a basketball game giving up that many points." Sophomore Colleen Kelly continued to show signs of improving at the point guard position. Kelly ended the night only three rebounds short of a triple-double as she racked up 13 points and 10 assists. "It's hard -- I can't lie and say I'm 100 percent," Kelly said. "I'm just working as hard as I can and as best as I can to be a leader on the court." Kelly's efforts were to no avail as the parasitic offense could not survive on the production of Kelly and center Natasha Rezek (11 points) alone. Rezek, the usual Quaker standout, added another accomplishment to her resumZ with her 1,000th career point at the 18 minute, 30 second mark of the second half. After the announcement, Rezek was lauded with a standing ovation from Lafayette and Penn faithful alike, and received a lovely bouquet of roses along with an assortment of balloons. "It's a milestone, and it took a lot of hard work," Rezek said. "But I just want to win and collect some victories -- even if I had to sacrifice points." Rezek ended the game with 1,008 career points, placing her 10th on the all-time Penn scoring list. Before the ceremony, however, the Quakers had ended the first half with an incredible comeback after it looked like the Leopards had left the Red and Blue in the dust. Down 21-8, Penn embarked on a 20-0 run beginning at the midway point of the half. With the score 28-21, Lafayette took the Quakers for a ride, ending the half with a tie at 31. After the second-half festivities for Rezek, the Quakers began to break down. Lafayette reimplemented its press, leaving Kelly to resort to her behind-the-back dribble time and time again to get upcourt. "It wasn't the best [full-court press] we've seen, but I felt a lot of pressure going up and looking for open people," Kelly said. "It resulted in a couple of turnovers." Soriero said that most teams will press Penn, especially with the reshuffling of the guards. She did add, however, the need for more contribution from her players. "There are players out there that have got to start playing better than they are -- that's just the way it is." Soriero said. "They have the opportunity to go in and make a difference, they are capable of making a difference, it's just a matter of putting theory into practice." After the game, Soriero commented on the winless streak as being more than a monkey on her back. "It's not even a monkey -- I feel like I'm carrying a huge boulder. It's horrible and I feel badly for the kids," Soriero said. "The games get close, they have good effort, they get good runs. It's such a monkey that it almost condemns us down the stretch." If the Quakers are to finally push that rock over the crest of their mountain of losses, they have certainly found the right track with Kelly's outside production and Rezek's consistent inside game. All they need now is a third person to step up and give one final heave.