Rough day for offense

Penn hit only 21-of-70 field goals, including an 8-of-31 performance by co-captain Mandy West. Going into their game against La Salle on Saturday, the Penn women's basketball team stood at 1-4, plagued by inconsistency. The Red and Blue started off well against the Explorers, going up 17-11 on an Erin Ladley three-pointer with 7:14 remaining in the first half, but then the inconsistency bug struck again. La Salle went on a 19-2 run to finish the half. The Explorers, with a 30-19 lead, all but had the game in hand. They rattled off five points to open the second half before the Quakers woke up again. "I think we just hit a lapse like we have every game so far," Ladley said. "We can never seem to respond when we go on a drought like that." The Quakers were downright anemic from both the field and the foul line in the first half. The Red and Blue hit only 20 percent (6-of-30) of their first half field goal attempts, and just 55 percent (6-of-11) from the free throw line. Junior point guard Mandy West, who leads the Quakers with 20.7 points per game, was particularly erratic from the floor. Although she scored a team-high 20 against La Salle, West shot just 8-for-31 from the field (26 percent). West's 31 shots were especially astounding because the entire La Salle team only took 42. Besides West, no other Quaker took more than 12 shots from the field. "Coach [Julie Soriero] told me that if I feel like it's a good shot that I have the green light to shoot," West said. "But 31 is too many. My shot selection has been a little bit poor. More importantly, though, I need to be making more." West's 31 heaves, the most by any Penn player since Kim Dare set a team record with 34 against Harvard in 1978, led a 70-shot barrage by the Quakers. But Penn could only convert 30 percent of those shots. "We need to just play more consistently," West said. "A majority of the shots were good shots, as far as my shooting goes, but I just wasn't making them." The second half improvement in the Quakers shooting was sparked by better frontcourt play and more drives by the guards to the basket, as Penn cut the La Salle lead to one point with 4:43 remaining in the game. Sue Van Stone and Jessica Allen, neither of whom took any shots in the first half, shot 3-for-5 and 2-for-2, respectively, in the second frame. The duo combined for 13 of the Red and Blue's 41 second-half points. Ladley, who did not get to the line at all in the first half, hit three-of-four from the line before fouling out with 4:14 to go in the game. Part of the reason for the Quakers' second half comeback was this increased involvement by more players, which was lacking in the first half. West scored 12 of her 20 points in the second half, improving her shot selection, but hitting only 5-for-20 after a 3-for-11 first half. Ladley, who shot just 1-for-8 from the field in the first half, went 2-for-4 in the final 20 minutes. "We didn't really change anything in the second half," Ladley said. "There were just some wide open shots that weren't falling [in the first half]." Ladley's layup with 11:25 left in the game cut the Explorers lead to under 10 points for the first time since 0.4 seconds remained in the first half. "I don't think that there's anything you can do to stop a drought in the middle of a game," West said. "Inconsistent play is a major problem for us." The Quakers second half shooting improvement failed to bring the lead to the Red and Blue because La Salle was picking up points from the charity stripe. La Salle guard Jenn Zenszer, who led all scorers with 22 points, picked up 15 from the line. Although West put up 31 shots, she was unable to draw fouls. The Upper St. Clair, Pa., native could only get to the line three times, converting on two attempts. "The refs just didn't call any fouls," West said. "There were a couple of times where I was driving and going for a foul, but they weren't calling many, so what can you do?" West will have to hope for better luck getting to the foul line for the Quakers to turn a 1-5 start into a successful season. "I think that we have to drive to the basket more," Ladley said. "We have to draw more contact to get the fouls." Part of the reason the Quakers were not getting to the free throw line was that they attempted 16 three pointers. This hurt because Penn only made three of them. La Salle's offense got to the line regularly, as it took 50 foul shots, hitting 36 for a 72 percent clip. That number of attempts shocked Ladley, especially compared to Penn's 26. The Quakers will need to concentrate more on driving to the basket to get to the free throw line more often. They will also need to spread the ball around, as West cannot take 31 shots on an off-night if the Quakers expect to win.