W. Hoops gets taste of Europe against S. Joe's on Saturday

The Quakers will face 6'4" Slovak Jana Lichnerova as they try to beat St. Joe's for the first time ever. Five years ago, the St. Joseph's women's basketball team took a trip to Europe without realizing the rewards it would reap. St. Joe's coach Stephanie Gaitley made a few contacts in Europe, which, two years later, enabled her to recruit Jana Lichnerova, the Hawks' 6'4" center. "I was expecting Jana to help us right away," Gaitley said. "I find with international students, the big kids have better skills at a younger age." According to Penn coach Julie Soriero, women's college basketball has seen a rapid growth in the number of international athletes in recent years, especially among the big basketball programs. "I think they may be more appreciative of the opportunity which maybe makes them hungrier," Soriero said. It was this opportunity that initially brought Lichnerova to the United States in an attempt to emulate her mother, who played for the Czech Republic at the 1971 World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Much to Gaitley's chagrin, however, Lichnerova's presence was not immediately felt. A preseason knee injury caused her to miss her entire freshman season in 1995-96. Nevertheless, Gaitley knew her capabilities and started her in every game of the 1996-97 season. Lichnerova finished the season at 7.0 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. "She was an extremely skilled post player," Gaitley said. "It's a struggle to recruit players like her." Lichnerova had a breakthrough season last year by adding an entirely new dimension to her game. Entering the 1997-98 campaign shooting a career 0-for-3 from behind the arc, Lichnerova found her touch from downtown. She finished the season 10-for-35 with a .286 three-point shooting percentage -- impressive for a 6'4" center. Lichnerova has continued her success this season, hitting 40 percent from behind the arc. "St. Joe's is always a good perimeter team," Soriero said. "She's a pretty steady player and very agile for a player of her size." Gaitley is hoping she will begin to use that size to her advantage more often, particularly with respect to fighting back against contact and becoming more of a "focal point" in the post offensively. At the end of last season Lichnerova's groove was halted due to a sprained medial collateral ligament. The injury caused her to miss the final eight games of the season. Luckily for the Hawks, Lichnerova did not lose any momentum heading into this season. She has increased her scoring average to 9.9 points per game, thanks to back-to-back 19-point performances against Toledo and Boston College. These performances earned her "Athlete of the Week" honors in The Hawk, St. Joe's student newspaper. Lichnerova also leads the team in blocks, is third on the team with 22 defensive rebounds and is fourth in steals. "Jana does things very well that don't show up in the statistics," Gaitley said. "Her best aspect is the defensive game. She is good at getting to the right spot and is a good close-defender and help-defender." Since Lichnerova missed her entire freshman year with the knee injury, she was redshirted and still has another year of eligibility after this season. Although she has not determined whether she wants to stay another year or graduate, the St. Joe's faithful would love to see her the results of another year of progress.