W. Hoops goes out with a huge win

The Penn women's basketball team's 71-65 victory over Princeton dropped the Tigers into a tie for first place. The Penn women's basketball team had nothing to lose when it walked into Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium last night for its final time under head coach Julie Soriero. Princeton, on the other hand, had a title to lose. With 2:41 remaining in the second half, sophomore Erin Ladley hit a clutch three point shot that put the Quakers up 62-60. The last 2 1/2 minutes of play were a gritty battle between two rivals and the Quakers proved to be the stronger fighters in their 71-65 victory. "We walked into this game knowing it was going to be a battle but also knowing we were going to win," said the Quakers' lone senior, co-captain Sue Van Stone. The end of the game proved to be a microcosm of the team's drive and desire in the second half. After Ladley hit a three-pointer to give Penn (12-14, 8-6 Ivy League) a two-point edge, Princeton (16-10, 12-2) answered back and tied the game at 2:27 with a layup. Twenty-four seconds later, Ladley once again came up big with a layup of her own. Ladley's clutch baskets accounted for five of her 13 total points, all of which were scored in the second half. The back-and-forth scoring continued until there was a mere 46 seconds remaining on the clock and Penn center Jessica Allen fouled out with Penn up 66-64. Princeton converted one of its two free throws to cut Penn's lead to one point. Allen headed to the bench, to be replaced by freshman Julie Epton, who entered the lineup after playing only six previous minutes. With 28 seconds remaining Epton grabbed a rebound, went up for a shot and was fouled. Epton, who had sunk 4-of-4 from the line earlier in the game, knew the game was over. "I knew I had to keep my composure and knock them down because we needed those points," Epton said. "Those free throws could have won or lost the game for us." After Princeton called timeout to ice her, she calmly knocked both down. With 28 seconds left the Quakers were up 68-65. The next play was the icing on the cake. With 19 seconds remaining, Princeton looked to set up its sharpshooter, Maggie Langlas. Langlas, a three-point threat, had already scored 27 points for her team on the strength of seven three-pointers. Van Stone recognized the screen that was set for Langlas, got around it and stole the ball. That play sealed the Tigers' fate and forced them into a playoff with Dartmouth for the Ivy title on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Yale's John J. Lee Amphitheater. "We like to be the spoilers," Van Stone said. This game illustrated how far the Quakers have come from earlier in the year. In the first round of Ivy competition on January 4, the Tigers bounced back from the Quakers' dominant regulation play to soundly defeat the Red and Blue 67-58 in overtime. "From day one in the season we never had a doubt in our minds that we could beat Princeton. That was our game in the Palestra, we just gave it away," Van Stone said. This time around, Penn was not about to give the game away. Although Penn had the mindset to end its season on a high note, the first half of the game did not end with a promising outlook. "In the first half Princeton did a really great job defending Mandy West and Diana Caramanico," Soriero said. "They were double teaming and even triple teaming Diana." Sophomore forward Caramanico and junior co-captain West have been Penn's go-to players throughout the season. Entering yesterday's face-off, the pair were Nos. 1 and 2 in Ivy League scoring and they led Penn yesterday with 16 points apiece. Princeton did its homework and denied both players the ball to hold them both below their scoring averages, but its tactics of doubling and tripling Penn's dominant players left three Red and Blue players open and hungry to help their team impede Princeton from clinching the Ivy title. "At halftime I said to the other kids on the team that they have got to step up," Soriero said. Those other players -- Van Stone, Ladley, Allen, Epton and sophomore Elizabeth Alexander -- did just that, stepping up and taking control of their team's fate. Although the Quakers -- who hoped to win the Ivies and earn a berth of their own in the NCAA Tournament -- did not wrap up their season according to plan, the team did not hang its heads. "Ending on this note is just great. It would have been greater, much greater, to go to the NCAA Tournament but in the position that we were in and the things that could have happened this is the best way to go out and the best way to send the coaches out," Epton said. "I expect to come back and cheer for us winning the championship next year," Van Stone said.