Houser and Van Stone provide bench strength

Seeing most of their time on the pine, the two W. Hoops players make the most of their minutes. At the outset of the 1996-97 women's basketball season, Penn freshman Jen Houser and sophomore Sue Van Stone were sitting on the bench for the game's full 40 minutes. Wrist tendinitis prevented Houser from taking the court. Van Stone, unlike Houser, was healthy. But with the backcourt tandem of freshman Chelsea Hathaway and junior Colleen Kelly getting the job done, Penn coach Julie Soriero rarely inserted her into the lineup. But in Tuesday night's 64-50 loss at Lafayette, Hathaway and center Deana Lewis both found themselves in foul trouble. Couple this with the shooting struggle of Kelly (0-for-3) and forward Shelly Fogarty (1-for-9) from the field, and Soriero had no choice but to use her bench -- namely Houser and Van Stone. It took Houser a few minutes before she got into the offensive flow. But the 5-foot-11 forward made the most of her 10 minutes on the court, shooting two-for-two from the field and hauling down three rebounds. "Being a freshman, I'm tentative. But if I'm in the game for a longer period of time, I get more confidence," Houser said. "Because of [the injury] I was very far behind everyone else. Everyone was already in top shape, and I had to learn the plays and readjust." Houser joins starters Hathaway and Fogarty as the third member of Soriero's heralded freshman class. As Houser recovers from her wrist injury and becomes acclimated to the offense, the Red and Blue will only improve. In Houser's limited minutes, the frosh is third on the team in field goal percentage (47.6 percent) and first among bench players in rebounds (2.5 per game). Interestingly, her motivation on the basketball court arises from her posters of a certain, well-known Chicago Bulls superstar. "My room is so homey and cool with basketball paraphernalia," Houser joked. "Chelsea [Hathaway] and I look at our pictures of Michael Jordan, and it psyches us up for the game." In her freshman year, Van Stone saw 237 minutes on the floor. This year, however, the 5-foot-10 guard's minutes have been much harder to come by. Hathaway and Kelly are each averaging 35-plus minutes per game. And Soriero has turned to senior captain Amy Tarr and junior Hope Smith to fill in for the starting backcourt rather than Van Stone. But on Tuesday night, Kelly played just 16 minutes, opening up backcourt time for Van Stone as well as Tarr and Smith. Even though Van Stone was the last of the Quakers' six guards to step off the bench, she added the most pronounced contribution of the lot. In 16 minutes, the sophomore scored three points, grabbed three rebounds and recorded a team-high three steals. "Defense is my first focus on the court," Van Stone said. "Even if you are having a night when your shot is not falling, you can always play good defense." Houser and Van Stone's emergence is key for the Quakers, who will likely turn to their bench a little more this weekend with home games against Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. Penn (5-8, 1-1 Ivy League) will be the favorites on Friday night. Columbia finished last in the Ivies at 1-13 a year ago, with their lone win coming over the Quakers. But while the Red and Blue are much improved from a year ago, the Lions (3-13, 0-4) are not -- and once again have sole possession of the Ivy League cellar. Offensively, Columbia is led by Leslie Zahm's 10.5 points per game. Senior forward Courtney Ailshouse is also emerging offensively, making the Ivy League Honor Roll by scoring 15 points in the Lions' overtime loss to Cornell. Cornell (8-7, 3-1), however, will be a tougher matchup for the Quakers. 5-foot-2 point guard Kacee English uses her quickness to wear down opponents. English averages 9.3 points and 5.2 assists per game, running the Big Red offense. Hathaway has seven inches on English and should have no trouble posting her up inside. But the Penn point guard will have to be extra careful with the ball in her own backcourt because English will look to swipe it. The Big Red also have the defensive presence of Kelly Jackson going in their favor. Jackson averages 6.3 boards and 1.5 blocks per game. But the team's Achilles' heel is in the turnover department. As a team, the Big Red average 19.4 turnovers per game. And their lead scorer, Kim Ruck averages a troublesome 5.3 turnovers. For Penn to have a shot at a weekend sweep, the key will be strong play from both the starters and the bench. This means continued domination by last week's Ivy League Player of the Week Michelle Maldonado, offensive support from Lewis, ball control by Hathaway, and a refound shooting touch by Kelly and Fogarty. "Our best games are yet to come when both our starters and bench play well," Van Stone said. "Coming off a loss, we are ready to unleash on the next team we play."