WOMEN'S HOOPS NOTEBOOK: Soriero ignores speculation about coaching future

The Penn women's basketball team may have won its first basketball game of the season on Saturday with a 62-58 victory over Dartmouth, but that is not likely to dampen speculation on coach Julie Soriero's future with the team. But Soriero, who has a career record of 64-115 in her seven years at Penn, says she does not view the rest of the season as a fight for her job. "I don't think that is what will motivate me to see my team do well," Soriero said. "There's enough pressure on coaching anyway without me putting the imposed pressure of 'If we don't go in and beat Columbia, what's going to happen to my future.' " Senior captain Natasha Rezek, the heart and soul of the team, declined comment when asked if Soriero should be brought back, but added: "I haven't connected this season -- or the lack thereof -- to bad coaching." Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky is in Florida this week and could not be reached for comment. · Last Saturday's win was quite emotional for the team. When the final buzzer sounded, the team rushed on to the court "like we've won the Final Four," according to sophomore point guard Colleen Kelly. Afterwards, most of the team cried in joy. "A lot of times this year, I saw tears based on losing -- or that someone did not make a shot at the buzzer or poor shooting or whatever," Soriero said. "It was nice to walk in the locker room and see people crying because they felt so good." Rezek, however, was a bit more reserved after the victory. "It was a huge win," the senior captain said. "It was great, but it was something that came a little late." · Despite opening the season with 22 straight losses, the team was not in jeopardy of breaking any NCAA records for futility. Charleston Southern set the NCAA mark for the most losses in a season at 28, which Penn could not break because their are only 26 games on the Quakers schedule. The NCAA record for consecutive losses is 58, set by Brooklyn College, which accomplished the feat from February 1987 to February 1989. The Quakers, who lost its season finale last year, ended their losing streak at 23. However, this year's edition of the Penn women's basketball team is likely to record the least number of wins in Quakers women hoops history. That mark is currently four wins, and will be broken unless Penn sweeps its remaining three games. · Erica McCauley, the Quakers lauded point guard who mysteriously left the team in the middle of the season, was quoted in The Philadelphia Daily News this past Wednesday as saying that she will "shed some light on things after the season ends." When contacted last night, she said: "At this time, while the season is still going on, I have no comment out of respect for my teammates." But McCauley still left open the possibility of commenting on the team after the season ends. "It's a possibility," she said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now." · Almost lost in the hoopla of the losing streak has been the outstanding season of Rezek. She leads the Ivy League in both scoring average (17.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg). Rezek said she does not regret staying a fifth year at Penn despite the team's woes. She also admitted she has thought about what she is going to tell her kids about this year. "I would just tell them that this happens," Rezek said. "Negative things happen, and you just have to handle it. You just have to stick it out and you can never quit -- ever."

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