0-22 record doesn't faze W. Hoops

In its 25-year existence, the Penn women's basketball team has lost to St. Joseph's 22-of-22 times. This season marks the 25th anniversary of Penn women's college basketball. In 22 of those previous 24 years, the Quakers have lost to traditional Big 5 rival St. Joseph's. The teams did not play the other two years. A lesser team might get discouraged by such intimidating numbers, but Penn (0-1) enters today's game looking to work on the causes of its early struggles. "We're more focused on what we need to do better and scoring more points than what's happened the last 22 years," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. Penn has been plagued by turnovers in its three contests, including 29 against St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday. The Quakers have also suffered from huge runs by their opponents, including long scoring droughts to open two exhibition games and a slow start to Saturday's second half. "We were in the game [against St. Francis] at the half," Soriero said. "It's the slow start in the second half that concerned me more." St. Joseph's (1-1) returns six of nine letterwinners from last year's 26-5 Atlantic 10 championship-winning squad. Against a common exhibition foe from Slovenia, St. Joe's won, 66-33, while the Quakers fell, 66-56. The Hawks are led by forward Maureen Costello who is averaging 16.5 points on 52 percent shooting through the first two games of the season. "St. Joseph's always prides itself on the way it plays defense," Soriero said. "They were hurt in the guard spot. They don't have some of the firepower, and they're not shooting as well from the floor this year." If the Hawks do have a weakness, it is at guard where their two starters are only averaging a combined seven points. The Quakers counter with Amy Nolan and senior co-captain Colleen Kelly, who hopes to take advantage of the less-experienced guards. "They graduated a lot of good guards, but they taught the incoming guards a lot," Kelly said. "They still have a lot of good people on the team." Kelly looks to rebound from her uncharacteristic five-point performance on Saturday, when the Red Flash limited her to only seven shots. Co-captain Michelle Maldonado also had what Soriero called an "atypical game." The forward picked up three fouls in the first seven minutes and was limited to just 19 minutes. "They made a stupid call in the first possession and it threw me off," Maldonado said. "I was frazzled, but it's my fault for not concentrating on the game." Part of the reason for the uncharacteristic foul trouble may be the responsibility of being the Quakers' only frontcourt player with significant collegiate experience. "I have confidence in them, but it's a lot to learn," Maldonado said. "I'm always trying to think about everybody else." The Quakers are sticking with the same starting lineup for today's game, even though Diana Caramanico came off the bench to lead all scorers with 26 points last weekend. "She did a great job coming off the bench, and she seems comfortable," Soriero said. "But I don't want [the freshmen starters] looking over their shoulders like if they make one mistake, they'll get pulled." While Penn has only a theoretical chance for its first-ever victory over St. Joe's, the team is more concerned with steady improvement. While nonconference games, especially the Big 5 variety, are not insignificant, the team's real focus is on preparing for the Ivy League season.