Quakers still looking for first win

After a five-game losing streak to start the season two years ago, the Penn women's basketball team rebounded to defeat Delaware, 72-59. With an impressive performance by Erica McCauley, a freshman point guard coming first off the bench, the Quakers' backcourt was able to take a load off the forwards and create more scoring opportunities. This year, the Red and Blue are looking to break their 11-game losing streak, which began back on Nov. 25, as they host the Fighting Blue Hens of Delaware once again tonight at 7:00 p.m. There is one major difference from 1993. McCauley, who stepped into the role of floor leader soon after the first Delaware contest, has left the team -- leaving the Quakers' forwards with almost the entire scoring burden. In that fateful game two years ago, Penn was experiencing problems which have been lingering. The Quakers were not getting bad shots -- they simply weren't falling. "I haven't been really unhappy with the shot selection in the previous games," coach Julie Soriero said after that game. "But we got more of them to fall tonight," Coach Julie Soriero said after that game. At practice yesterday, Soriero said virtually the same thing: "We're getting good looks and good shots -- they're just not falling. If we make the outside shot, it opens [center] Natasha [Rezek] up, and allows us to get some fresh legs on the court." For the first time in that 1993-94 season, just that happened as McCauley experienced her coming-out game, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists to help the ailing Quakers. This Delaware team can be compared to Yale in terms of the style of their game. The Elis were picked to finish last in the Ivies based upon substantial losses to graduation. In addition, the Hens only have a 3-9 record, including three common opponents in St. Joseph's, LaSalle and Princeton -- all of which trounced Delaware. Unfortunately for the Red and Blue, Yale crushed them, 65-34. Soriero feels that Penn was simply way off that night and has much more potential. "We held them to 65 points, so we had a good defensive effort. But no one really produced on offense." If a lack of offense was not enough, the second-leading scorer for the Quakers, Deana Lewis, is listed as questionable for tonight's game. Lewis suffered a concussion fighting for a rebound against Brown. If dZja vu is to affect the Quakers in tonight's game, perhaps Megan Evans, a freshman starting at the two-guard, will have her coming out game, taking pressure off Rezek and Lewis and nailing the open jumper.