W. Hoops ready for Wildcats

The Penn women's basketball team opens tomorrow against 'Nova The Penn women's basketball team's game against Villanova on Saturday will be a battle of biblical proportions: David versus Goliath. Villanova plays in one of the country's most elite leagues, the Big East, and they dealt the Quakers a resounding 99-55 defeat last season. But that game came early in the season when the predominantly freshman group was still adjusting to collegiate basketball. The Quakers open their 1998-'99 season against the Wildcats tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Palestra. Experience is one area from which the Wildcats will draw their strength. With seven letterwinners and three starters returning from a team that went 19-10 and earned a bid to the WNIT, the Blue and White have proved they have what it takes to win. What it took, however, often involved two graduated scoring threats, co-captains Jenn Beisel and Jenny Higgins. Beisel was the team's leader on both ends of the floor, earning second team All-Big East honors. Higgins was second on the team in scoring and led the country with 100 three point field goals. Trying to fill the void will be senior point guard Shanette Lee who may be one of the most experienced guards in the entire Big East Conference, according to coach Harry Perretta. The Wildcats' roster also includes the dynamic duo of senior forward Jenn Sliwa (6-1) and junior forward Jenea Skeeters (5-11). Sliwa, one of the team's most versatile players, can shoot the three (netting 51 last season) and use power post moves. As a junior she averaged 9.7 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 1.5 steals per game. Skeeters is also a scorer inside and outside. She ranked third in the Wildcat's team scorers list with 10.1 ppg. Both Sliwa and Skeeters played on the prestigious Big East/Nike All-star team this past summer, where Skeeters led the team in scoring with 11.4 ppg average. The three returning starters will be joined by Barndi Barnes (6-3), a sophomore transfer from the University of Maryland who will provide the Wildcats something they have not had in a while, size. While Villanova is traditionally strong, Penn is coming off its first non-losing season in seven years. Penn coach Julie Soriero led the young squad to a 13-13 record, which earned Soriero Philadelphia Big Five Coach of the Year honors. Last year's success was in large part due to freshman Diana Caramanico who the team looked to for leadership in both scoring (20.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg). Caramanico finished 34th in the country in scoring, earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors 10 times and scored in double figures in 24 of the 26 games. Since Caramanico and the now-sophomore class' turning the program around, the Quakers are looking to build on last year's success. After Tuesday night's exhibition loss to Belarus, Soriero noticed one important fact that will make or break the Quakers chances this season. "We need to stay aggressive all 40 minutes," Soriero said. The Red and Blue went into the second half of the exhibition with a comfortable lead, but they seemed to relax and quickly fell behind. "As we relaxed, [Belarus] got momentum and after that we couldn't get the momentum back," Soriero said. Playing with intensity for 40 minutes will be key in tomorrow's match-up. The intensity must stem from co-captains Sue Van Stone and junior transfer Mandy West. Although she did not play for Penn last season due to NCAA transfer regulations, West earned All-Big East Rookie Team honors after her 1995-96 season at Boston College. Erin Ladley, the leader in the Quakers backcourt, will be the starting point guard this season. Ladley started the last 24 games of the season and finished fourth on the team in scoring. Two more sophomores, Caramanico and Jessica Allen will be controlling the boards down low. Allen played in every game last season and finished fifth on the team in rebounding and sixth in scoring. "We are looking for another successful year," Soriero said. "But we are still very young, so we'll expect growing pains early on in the season." The young Quakers may experience some growing pains, but their energy level will undoubtedly rise with the excitement and anticipation of the season opener. Although the Wildcats have more experience than the Quakers, Villanova's assistant coach Joe Mullaney believes the match-up "should be a fairly close game." "It is always a tough game when we play down there," Mullaney said. "It's also going to be a tough game because it's the first game, and they will be just as fired up as we are."