W. Hoops swept over weekend

After completing its non-conference schedule, the Penn women's basketball team entered the weekend optimistic that a win was in sight. The Quakers believed that they matched up better against their Ivy League rivals and would test that theory against Dartmouth and Harvard this past weekend. But expectations have rarely become realities for this year's winless team. Penn stayed close with Dartmouth before falling, 75-61, on Friday and then was blown out by Harvard, 85-63, on Saturday. This pushed the Division I record to its worst at 0-19, while their Ivy League mark dropped to 0-7. The Harvard game followed a pattern which is becoming all too familiar for Penn in recent games. While the Quakers began the season playing tough defense and limiting their opponents to low-point totals, lately Penn has been knocked out early in the game by its opponents' hot shooting. "I know that if we were playing someone without a win, we would go unleash against them," Penn guard Colleen Kelly said. The Crimson never trailed in opening a 47-33 halftime lead. Harvard took command of the game with a barrage of three-pointers, hitting seven in the half, including a 3-for-3 performance by forward Amy Reinhard. The Crimson also found it easy to drive on the Quakers. Elizabeth Proudfit slashed her way to four layups in only eight minutes of play in the first half. "We expected it from them," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "They came in averaging 79 points a game, and their guards are shooting and playing with confidence." Penn could not cut the deficit to under 14 points in the second half, despite the fact that they were playing against mostly Harvard reserves. Penn center Natasha Rezek led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kelly broke out of a four-game slump with 12 points. The Harvard loss was even more disappointing because Penn almost pulled off a major upset against defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth 24 hours earlier. Penn came out inspired and opened an early six-point lead. But the Big Green battled back to knot it leaving the score at 30 by intermission. "We were psyched going into halftime," Rezek said. "But we thought we should be up." Dartmouth remained close thanks to its three-point shooting. Six of Dartmouth's 10 first-half baskets were from downtown. Freshman guard Nicci Rinaldi led the way with three treys, despite having only nine coming into the game. "I was really surprised at how well they shot from three-point range," Soriero said. "They really had to work to get the shots." At the half, Penn made a defensive switch to challenge the Big Green perimeter shooters. But Rinaldi responded by blowing past the Penn defenders on her way to 23 points, including 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe in the second half. "We were in a zone, and we rely on others to help out," Quakers guard Patty Loyack said. "It didn't work out quite as well as planned." As Penn's defense faltered, Dartmouth's offense took over the game. The Big Green shot 59 percent from the field in the second half, in addition to going 16-for-19 from the free throw line. Penn's offense could not keep up, and despite receiving a career high 27 points from Rezek, Dartmouth was able to raise its record to 12-6 (4-2 in the Ivy League). The most positive aspect of the weekend was the emergence of Loyack in her new starting role. She responded with nine points in each game, exhibiting a willingness to shoot that has been absent from the shooting-guard position. "My main objective is to be more aggressive as a shooter," Loyack said. "We need more points from our guards." It remains to be seen if Loyack will be another in the long line of Quakers who have emerged for one or two games this year, only to disappear. Penn will need her to develop into a consistent scorer if they hope to be successful in their quest for that elusive first win.