W. Hoops falls by ten to Villanova

Standing in Saturday's football crowd of 14,000 roaring fans, Penn women's basketball center Jessica Allen, had four short words to say, "God, I'm so nervous." Her nervousness did not stem from a fear that the Crimson might make a fourth quarter comeback. Allen had another game on her mind. At 6 p.m., Allen would be starting in the Penn women's basketball season opener against a Big East powerhouse, the Villanova Wildcats. Penn, who had a non-losing record for the first time in the past seven years last season, is a young and energetic team. However, it is also a team who is not, according to last year's loss to Villanova (99-55), supposed to give the Wildcats a fight. After Saturday night's 54-64 loss, Penn proved it is not living in the past. At the sound of the whistle, forward Diana Caramanico overpowered Villanova's 6'3'' center Brandi Barnes as she tipped the jump ball to the Quakers point guard Erin Ladley. Villanova, however, was not going to give up so easily. Wildcats point guard Shanette Lee stole the ball from Ladley, but failed to convert the steal into points. At 18:57, Caramanico, after being fouled by Barnes, opened the scoring as she sunk two foul shots. Penn captain Sue Van Stone put up one more foul shot to help the Quakers sustain their early lead. After forcing 'Nova to have its second bad pass of the game, Ladley assisted Caramanico in a five foot jump shot to put Penn up 5-0. "I thought by the way we came out strong, we set the tone. We showed Villanova that we weren't going to back down," Ladley said. Penn did not back down. The Red and Blue never let Villanova take more than a two point lead throughout the entire first half. "We did a really good job of boxing out and pressuring them on the perimeter; they couldn't hit anything," Caramanico said. With 1:27 remaining in the first half, the score was tied 24-24, mainly due to Penn's aggressive defense. Determined to prove its superiority to its Big Five rival, Wildcats sophomore guard Mimi Riley drove in for a lay-up, putting Villanova on top 26-24. Penn, however, refused to run into the locker room at the close of the half knowing Villanova would have the lead. At the buzzer, Penn shooting guard Mandy West scored an unassisted 12 foot jumper to end the half in a tie, 26-26. The start of the second half began with similar play to the first half. Van Stone opened the scoring with a driving layup, but Lee answered back with a eight foot jump shot assisted by sophomore Lauren Pellicane. The back and forth scoring continued eight minutes into the second half until Villanova's Jenea Skeeters nailed a three point jump shot to put the Wildcats on top 39-34. After that play, the Quakers never regained the lead. "I was satisfied with the way we played overall, losing by 44 one year to losing by ten the next is a big accomplishment," Caramanico said. "But because we were within ten points, I feel that we should have won." Penn Coach Julie Soriero agreed with Caramanico, "I was satisfied with the effort, but I was not content with the result." Although Soriero was not content with the loss, she still felt that the game was a "good indicator of things to come."