W. Hoops comes up empty on trip

The Quakers are 0-4 on the road in the Ivies this season. Don't expect the Penn women's basketball team to make travel plans anytime soon. This weekend's road trip to Providence, R.I., and New Haven, Conn., has reminded the Quakers that there's no place like home. Penn (6-14, 2-6 Ivy League) began the Ivy League season by splitting its first four games at the Palestra. But since the Red and Blue have ventured away from their own hardwood, the wins have ceased. With this weekend's losses at Brown (12-9, 7-2) and Yale (8-14, 4-6), the Quakers fell to 0-4 on the road in the Ivies. On Friday night, Brown guard Vita Redding welcomed the Quakers to the Pizzitola Center with a shooting clinic. The nation's No. 3 scorer bucketed 12 of 27 shots from the field for a game-high 25 points. Redding's 15 second-half points proved to be the difference, as the Bears pulled away to an 81-64 victory. Redding's performance, however, was not to be outdone by her teammate and scoring counterpart, Liz Turner. The Bears forward nailed 12 of her 21 points in the first half to help Brown build a 45-40 at the break. In the second half, Turner cooled, but Redding -- like the Energizer Bunny -- kept on going. And on the other end, no Quaker could hit her shots. The Pizzitola Center rims apparently tightened on the Quakers, who shot just 25.7 percent after intermission. Penn forward Michelle Maldonado -- who led the way with 16 first-half points -- shot just two of 10 from the field in the second half. And Chelsea Hathaway, Colleen Kelly and Shelly Fogarty shot a combined two for 13. In an ideal world, Penn coach Julie Soriero would have just clicked her heels together three times and returned the Quakers to the more friendly confines of the Palestra. But instead, Saturday night at Yale, Soriero attempted to change the Quakers' road luck by adding three new faces to the starting lineup. Junior Hope Smith made her second start of the season at shooting guard, while senior co-captain Amy Tarr and sophomore walk-on Hadley Perkins debuted in the frontcourt. Despite the changes, a pair of foul shots by Yale's Katy Grubbs and Katie O'Leary put the Elis ahead to stay, 61-58. But Saturday night at Yale's John J. Lee Amphitheater saw the emergence of Perkins as a force for the Quakers. In her first career start, the 5-foot-11 forward paced the Quakers with three-for-seven shooting from the field. The sophomore also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end. "I expected to be a bench player," Perkins said. "I knew that I would have to work very hard because I was a walk-on." Perkins's strong play inside the paint complemented well with Maldonado, who shot 7-for-8 from the field and added 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. Lewis also contributed up front, with six points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes on the floor. Part of the Quakers' success up front can be attributed to their point guard. Hathaway had little trouble getting the ball down low against the Elis. The freshman finished with eight assists, while turning the ball over just once. But neither Smith nor Tarr could add a spark to the offense, while Kelly and Fogerty responded poorly to their benching -- shooting a combined 2-for-18. In the second half, Elis forward Katy Grubbs scored 15 of her 27 points, as the Elis began to pull away. This weekend, the Quakers return home to the Palestra to face Harvard and Dartmouth. There is no doubt that now the Penn women's basketball team will appreciate their own home court now more than ever.

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