W. Hoops bids farewell to captains

Penn seniors Colleen Kelly and Michelle Maldonado step on the Palestra court for their last time tonight versus Princeton. Michelle Maldonado and Colleen Kelly will be viewed as winners no matter what happens tonight when the Penn women's basketball team hosts arch-rival Princeton at 5 p.m. at the Palestra. Both Penn co-captains, however, have the opportunity to go out as winners on the scoreboard. The Quakers (13-12, 8-5 Ivy League) have not won their final regular-season game during the seniors' previous three seasons. At stake against the Tigers (15-10, 9-4) is second place in the Ivy League. The prelude to this game started long ago. Maldonado's expectations of playing college basketball evolved over time, especially during high school near her native Fair Lawn, N.J. That, coupled with time spent on AAU teams, served as incentive. "The area I grew up in is very athletics-oriented," Maldonado said. "So, from a young age, you have this mindset where you're going to all these camps to get viewed by scouts, and have to be at a certain level early." However, according to Maldonado, playing at a university with high tuition and academic standards such as Penn seemed totally unexpected. "I never thought I would end up at an Ivy League school," she said. "However, the academics and the added opportunity of continuing to play basketball at a higher level definitely appealed to me." And so she came, needing to make the transition from three high school basketball titles to the collegiate level. "I had to mentally prepare myself every day for practice," Maldonado explained. "That was one big difference for me moving up to the college level." Kelly was also part of championship teams at Merion Mercy, not far from her native Drexel Hill, Pa. From a young age, her potential was seen and developed by none other than her father, who coached her before high school. "She started dribbling the ball in first grade," Bill Kelly said. "She showed some skill at an early level, and from the time she started competing in fourth grade, her game continued to grow at each level." Long after the early years, and after two high school titles of her own, Kelly chose Penn over Villanova, her father's alma mater. The opportunity of playing at the Palestra 12 times a year was too hard to pass up for the Philly native. "Penn was a city school, and we're from the suburbs, so at first it was a surprise," Bill Kelly said. "She went to Penn one weekend to visit practice, leaned over to me and said 'Dad, this is where I want to go'." Kelly's historical perspective made the decision easy. "I grew up with the Big 5, and to watch the people that I looked up to, and then have the opportunity myself to play [at the Palestra] was special," she said. For Kelly, it was time once again to work her way up to eventually being a starter. "Coming in, I had all these goals, since I never sat [being a non-starter] before," Kelly said. Kelly and Maldonado encountered one of their toughest challenges when the Quakers lost their first 22 games en route to a 3-23 record their sophomore year. "My sophomore year was by far the hardest thing ever," Maldonado said. "My teammates and my family helped me get through the rough seasons." Through the good and the bad of a junior season when the Quakers reached 6-10 at one point, Maldonado emerged to the forefront at forward, becoming 19th nationally in rebounding. "I figured If I could get through [sophomore] year, I could get through this," Maldonado said. "I really wanted to show myself that I deserved to be in that spot." Kelly was equally impressive at the guard spot, breaking the Penn record for three-point shots made in a single game against Cornell with seven. This year's outlook did not look good on paper. High turnover in the roster plus the loss of two seniors to graduation provided a formidable challenge that Kelly and Maldonado overcame. "The fact that they are both very proud individuals had a lot to do with where we are now as a team," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. Leadership was crucial in getting this year's young team in sync. Kelly and Maldonado have earned the respect of the underclassmen. "Michelle always has had a lot of emotion and a lot of heart," Penn junior guard Sue Van Stone said. "She plays hard every game, and I feel that practicing against Michelle every day plus her one-on-one leadership has helped the young players develop." "As for Colleen, she always provides that spark that helps us get on a roll," Van Stone said. Each of the seniors holds the other in high regard as well. "Michelle really handled the pressure of being triple-teamed last year, and has taken advantage of opportunities this year working with [Penn forward] Diana [Caramanico]," Kelly said. Maldonado's praises are equally high for Kelly. "Colleen's really good at keeping a good emotional attitude," Maldonado said. "For example, if we had a rough day or even a good day, she would send us all really great e-mails that she wrote, just keeping us really enthusiastic." When asked how she wants to see tomorrow's curtain call happen, Soriero did not hesitate for too long before answering. "I know that Michelle would like to go out with a three-pointer," Soriero said with a smile, going on to indicate that she expects nothing different from other games this year. "I would like to see them reach their individual goals. For Colleen, that would be to reach her 1,000 point," Soriero said. "And, for Michelle, to continue doing the yeoman's job she does inside and make it so that the other team scratches its head and says 'How do we stop her?'." If those two things happen, Kelly and Maldonado will step off the Palestra court for the final time with their loudest cheer ever.