W. Hoops lets another one slip away

Quakers made a 27-6 run, but fell short by three points. Down by as much as 17 early in the second half during Monday night's game against La Salle, the Penn women's basketball team found itself in an all-to-familiar situation. Just as in their season-opening victory against St. Francis, turnovers and early foul trouble had forced them into a seemingly insurmountable deficit. And just as in the St. Francis game, the Quakers, behind the sharp shooting of junior guard Colleen Kelly, staged an unlikely comeback with a 27-6 run, putting them up 54-50 with 7:26 left in the game. La Salle, however, had Sarah Haynes on its team. Behind her clutch three-point shooting and the inside play of forward Chrissie Donahue, the Explorers (4-0, 1-1 Big 5) took back the lead and managed to hold off a determined Penn squad for the 76-73 victory at the Palestra. For the Quakers (1-4, 0-2), it was a heartbreaking loss. Every time they fought their way back into the game, either a devastating three-point bomb by Haynes or a few quick baskets by Donahue would push the momentum back in La Salle's favor. The two players were a combined 14-for-23 shooting from the field, accounted for 50 of La Salle's 76 points. "We let (Haynes) have too many looks at the basket," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "A couple of times I think it was a freshman who was guarding her and that's just a little bit of lack of experience." The two players not only ruined the Quakers comeback, but they also put a damper on what was otherwise a career night for Kelly. The shooting guard, on 9-for-18 shooting, scored a career high 30 points, 26 of which came in the second half. At one point during the big Red and Blue run that gave them their first lead of the game, Kelly scored eight points in a span of a 1:20. "The first half when we were down, we didn't really have any leadership," Kelly said. "Deana is usually our emotional one, but she was on the bench with foul trouble. The coaches were getting on me, telling me I had to step it up." Not lost on the Quakers, however, is the fact that they shouldn't have needed Kelly to dig themselves out of such a big hole in the first place. As usual, turnovers and foul trouble plagued them for most of the game. La Salle scored 21 points off Penn giveaways and the Quakers were in the penalty with only four minutes gone in the second half. "We got into foul trouble and got very small," Soriero said. "They went inside to Chrissie Donahue and she was just too talented and too strong. It was tough to stop her." Kelly added that mental lapses were another big reason for the large La Salle lead. "There was just five minutes or so where we lost our focus," Kelly said. "If we want to get to the next level, we have to overcome that." Senior co-captain Amy Tarr agreed. "We played great for 90 percent of the game," Tarr said. "And then we have one little stretch that gets us into a hole. We have to learn to concentrate for 40 minutes." Despite their mistakes and early foul trouble, the Quakers' resilience put them in position to win the game in the closing minutes. After La Salle had rebuilt their lead to as much as five points, two fouls shots by Kelly put the Quakers down by only two with 1:06 left in the game. La Salle then hit two free throws and managed to get the ball back with 19 seconds remaining, and the game seemingly in hand. A quick steal and two more free throws by Kelly, however, brought Penn back within two. After two more La Salle free throws and a layup by Penn freshman Chelsea Hathaway, Haynes then had the opportunity to ice the game on the line with only 2.6 seconds left and her team up, 75-73. When she missed the second end of the one-and-one, Hathaway immediately raced to half-court and threw up a desperation shot at the buzzer. The ball fell well short, however, and the game was over. Despite the loss, Soriero had a lot to be pleased about. Junior Michelle Maldonado had yet another solid game, with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and freshman Shelly Fogarty chipped in 17 points. It was the heart with which the Quakers' fought back, however, that pleased her the most. Knowing full well how inexperienced most of her team is, Soriero is confident that the turnovers and silly fouls, mostly the result of overzealous defense, are problems her team will eliminate as the season goes on. "We just need to be a little more patient on offense," Soriero said. "I just think we're going to learn from games like this and we're just going to get better in these situations."