New faces in starting lineup are not the answer

Sporting a revamped starting five, the Penn women's basketball team still dropped two games. The Penn women's basketball team came into last weekend's homestand against Dartmouth and Harvard with one thing on its mind -- revenge. Revenge for their two biggest losses of the season and revenge for the downward spiral that the team has been in ever since. While they didn't exactly get that revenge, what the Penn team did receive -- though it may prove little consolation to the Quakers and their fans -- was respect, as they fell in two close contests to two of the Ivy League's top teams. The Dartmouth matchup was a game of lost opportunities. For much of the first half, the Quakers (6-16, 2-8 Ivy League), were in complete control by as much as 14. They took a seven-point lead into the locker room at halftime but were unable to hold on, as Dartmouth (11-11, 6-4) outscored them 39-22 in the second half to take the game, 65-55. Despite the final score, the Quakers still had every opportunity to take the game in its closing minutes, as the bloated margin of victory was the result of a few Dartmouth free throws to clinch the game. The difference, as Penn coach Julie Soriero noted afterwards, was the Big Green's clutch play. "It was a matter of the lid coming on our rim as the game wore on and the lid coming off theirs," Soriero said. The Red and Blue sported a new look Friday night. Sophomore walk-on center Hadley Perkins started in place of senior co-captain Deana Lewis and junior co-captain Amy Tarr in place of freshman point guard Chelsea Hathaway. At first it appeared to work, as the Quakers jumped on the Big Green, scoring the game's first six points and jumping out to an early lead. Leading the scoring for the Quakers was forward Michelle Maldonado and Lewis who led the team with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Junior guard Colleen Kelly and Hathaway each chipped in with 10 apiece. As the game wore on, however, Dartmouth's hot hand, lead by Bess Tortolani's game-high 15 points, proved to be too much for Penn to handle. "Bess Tortolani really took over the game," Soriero said. Heading into the Harvard game Saturday night, the Quakers had every reason to fold. It was the Crimson (17-6, 11-0), who handed them their most embarrassing loss of the season, 86-57, and it was the Crimson who had, only a night before, handed Princeton a 79-34 beating in its building. No one would have blamed the Quakers, particularly after Harvard jumped out to an early 23-12 advantage, if they had accepted defeat as inevitable. No one would have blamed them, perhaps, but themselves. Despite falling behind by as much as 23 in the second half, the Red and Blue gave their fans a rousing effort, cutting the Harvard lead to as little as seven points, before falling, 70-60. "Tonight, we played with a lot of intensity," Tarr said. "We never let them get the big run they are used to getting." Though there may have been no big Crimson runs, Penn, paced by Kelly's 25 points, found itself with its back against the wall from start to finish, as Harvard used its aggressive style of play to attack the Quakers on both sides of the ball. The Crimson, led by 1995-96 Ivy League Player of the Year Allison Feaster's 18 points and 15 rebounds, gave no indication that they were taking the Quakers lightly, evidenced by a full-court press through much of the first half. Unlike previous games, however, Penn's depth allowed them to match their opponent's intensity. Foul trouble, which has plagued the Quakers all season long, has forced Soriero to go to her bench earlier than she's wanted in several close games this season. Saturday night, that bench, particularly centers Hadley Perkins and Jen House, responded. "It's tough to play hard and not commit fouls," Soriero said. "I don't think that hurt us tonight because of our bench." Though it can hardly be said that Soriero and her squad were satisfied with the loss, it is a mark of just how far the team has come, both with their maturity and talent level, that they were able to battle back and make a game of it. Harvard, as they have proven all year long, is the class of the Ivies and that the Quakers were able to go toe-to-toe with them is an achievement for this young squad in itself. "I was really impressed with our effort," Soriero said. "That we bounced back really showed our maturity as athletes."