WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Quakers look to replace Rezek

Without Natasha Rezek, Penn's strength may be last year's weakness - its backcourt. With the christening of this year's edition of the Penn women's basketball team only a little over a week away, coach Julie Soriero has her hands full. The Quakers biggest loss in the off-season was Natasha Rezek, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, who graduated. That loss leaves the players on this year's team large shoes to fill, and it leaves Soriero with the task of finding a way to replace both Rezek's points and boards. One might think that the loss of a player of Rezek's caliber, who was undeniably the backbone of last year's team, would leave any coach wary about matching last year's win total. Soriero, however, was nonplussed. "I don't think her absence is going to make that much of a difference," she said. In defense of her statement, Soriero points to several strong additions to this year's team. With two new sophomores, Miranda Berg and Hatley Perkins, along with four incoming freshman, guard Christine Heffernan, forward Jennifer Hause, guard/forward Shelly Fogerty and guard Chelsea Hathaway, Soriero hopes that the void left by Rezek's graduation will be filled. "I'm real happy with the newcomers," Soriero said. · The changes for this year's team go deeper than simply personnel. The now Rezek-less frontcourt and the addition of several talent guards provides Soriero with a team with radically different strengths and weaknesses than a year ago. "Our perimeter game was our glaring weakness last year," Soriero said. "This year, we're a lot stronger with Fogerty and Chelsea coming in. We also have a lot of depth with players like Colleen Kelly, Amy Tarr and Sue Van Stone." Again in contrast to last year, life without Rezek, the nation's fifth leading rebounder, leaves the Quakers with a far weaker inside game. With 6-foot-4 sophomore center Carrie Fleck absent from the school for personal reasons and Jennifer Hauser injured, the Quakers will be sorely tested to match last year's success in the paint. "The players we have are quality players," Soriero said, pointing to senior forward Deana Lewis. "But those are several kids we were counting on for depth this season." · Coming off a disappointing season last year, with a 3-11 record in the Ivy League and a 3-23 mark overall, Soriero is hesitant to name any specific goals for the upcoming year. She does, however, demand one thing of her playersE-- improvement. "Obviously, we struggled and had a real frustrating year last year," Soriero said. "One of my goals is to make the game fun this year and just to do better than we did last." The players who Soriero hopes will lead this year's team to a better record are co-captains Tarr and Lewis. Soriero does expect, though, that the two players will not have to carry the load of leading the team by themselves. "All the returning players are very focused on this year's season," Soriero said.