Villanova to visit W. Basketball

The Quakers are looking to extend their Ivy League success to the Philadelphia's Big 5. Tonight, the Penn Quakers will look again for improvement when they face their final Big 5 opponent, Villanova (7-6, 2-1 Big 5). The Quakers have not won a game against a city opponent this year, but have gotten more competitive in successive games against St. Joseph's, La Salle, and Temple. "We have played them all very well, and very, very tough. We haven't backed down from anyone, and I'd like to go into this game the same way," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. A win, however, will be no easy task for Penn. The Wildcats own a 22-1 series record over the Quakers, and return nine letterwinners from last year's team. "They are always a good team," said Penn senior forward Deana Lewis. Both Penn (4-7, 0-3) and Villanova have been plagued by inconsistencies in their past two conference games. In Big East action, Villanova knocked off Syracuse last week, 74-68, then fell to Notre Dame by 23 points. Penn went on a 17-2 run to put away Yale on Friday, 57-47, but then dropped a disappointing 87-79 decision to Brown the next night. "We didn't take care of the basketball," said Soriero of the Brown loss. "We want our execution to get sharper." Against Villanova's man-to-man half-court pressure, Penn will focus on minimizing its turnovers. According to Soriero, Villanova's defensive-minded players try to keep the score of the game in the 50's. Penn hopes that it can put pressure on the Wildcats by continuing to shoot well. Among Ivy League teams, the Quakers have the best overall shooting percentage (42.9). "We are going to try to establish the inside game early," Soriero said. By working the ball down low to Lewis and junior forward Michelle Maldonado, Penn hopes to open up their guards. Lewis is coming off of a career high 25-point effort against Brown, and Maldonado is averaging 15.1 points per game. "On offense, we are going to have to execute," Lewis said. On defense, the Quakers will face Villanova's consistent passing offense. The Wildcats offense is dangerous because each player is capable of making the long three-point shot. Jenn Sliwa leads the Wildcats with 15.8 points and eight rebounds a game. Jenea Skeeters comes off the Wildcats bench to supply another 13.4 points per game. The Quakers will try to counter the patient offense by pressuring Villanova's point guard, Shanette Lee. Penn should be able to guard their opponents' women more tightly than usual because the Wildcats do not frequently drive to the basket. "We are not going to come as deep on help-side defense," Soriero said. This positional adjustment should strengthen the Quakers' defense, which is holding opponents to a miniscule 38 percent shooting from the floor this season. Overall, Penn hopes that their improvements will bring them their first Big 5 victory of the season. "We came off a good game and a bad game," Maldonado said. "We have to be consistent."