W. Hoops to battle its history with St. Joseph

Penn has never beaten the Hawsk, but is coming off of its first-ever tournament victory in Colorado. Tonight, at that beautiful bastion of Philadelphia basketball called the Palestra, the Penn women's basketball team renews one of its longest standing crosstown rivalries as it takes on St. Joseph's. If all goes well for the Quakers, though, the result of tonight's game will be unlike any other in the history of the rivalry. In nearly 30 years of basketball competition, the Quakers have never beaten the Hawks (3-1, 0-0 Big 5). Penn (3-2, 1-1) is 0-24 all-time against the perennial Philadelphia powerhouse. In 1977, Penn lost by a whopping 59 points. In 1983, the Quakers were down by just two when the final buzzer sounded. Last year, the Quakers were downed by 19. This year's Penn squad -- under new head coach Kelly Greenberg -- does not talk about the past. The Quakers would rather view a win tomorrow night as a "changing of the guard" in Big 5 hoops. "[St. Joe's] is where we want to be," Greenberg said. "They're kind of the woman's team in Philadelphia. They're the team with the most tradition, the most 'W's, the most consecutive years going to the NCAA tournament." If they can handle the Hawks for the first time in team history, this game could be something of a coming-out party for the Quakers. "If we really want people to know what we're all about and where we're going with this program, a win tomorrow night would be huge," Greenberg said. For now, the Quakers' relative anonymity -- their win over Temple to open the season was their first in the Big 5 since 1995 -- may serve as help to slide in under the Hawks' radar. "Hopefully, they're not going to take us as seriously as we're taking this game, and we'll be able to catch them off-guard," Greenberg said. Even if the Quakers manage to surprise the Hawks early, the Red and Blue must remain wary of the Hawks' talent and experience. "We definitely respect them an awful lot, but we're not afraid of them at all," Greenberg said. "They don't do anything that we haven't seen, and they're not more athletic than us or anything. But they have the tradition behind them." Although Greenberg and the Quakers may envy the St. Joseph's tradition of Big 5 dominance and hope to cultivate something akin to it, the Quakers certainly don't covet the Hawks style of basketball. "They're a very, very deliberate team," Greenberg said. "They don't want to run, they want the game to be in the low 60s and the 50s." On the other hand, the Quakers, sporting a new offense that Greenberg introduced this year, want to run the ball right down the throats of their opponents. "We want to be the exact opposite [of the Hawks]," Greenberg said. "We want to get the game into the high 70s and the low 80s. We can't let them, just because they're St. Joe's, come in here and play their game.That's really our plan -- to not let them lull us to sleep." While she has confidence in her team, Greenberg seemed willing to accept some possible miscues. "[Because of their defense] we're going to take some bad shots, and probably have some bad turnovers early," she said. "But as long as we can get them to go up and down, I don't care." In addition to playing their own game, the key to winning for the Quakers will probably be on the offensive and defensive glass. In their three wins, the Quakers have outrebounded their opponents. In their two losses, Penn foes have come away with more boards. The bulk of the rebounding duty should fall, as it usually does, to Quakers forward Diana Caramanico. The junior is coming off of a brilliant western road trip, for which she was named both Ivy League and Big 5 Player of the Week. Caramanico will have her hands full defensively, as she will be matched up with St. Joe's forward Erin Moran, who is coming off a 29-point performance against St. John's. Moran, however, is not the only offensive star for the Hawks. The real threat is Hawks point guard Angela Zampella, who impresses with her versatility. "Some games she scores a lot," Greenberg said. "Some games she doesn't, but she does whatever they need her to do to win." The challenge of defending the Hawks playmaker will fall to Quakers tri-captain Mandy West, who, along with the rest of the Quakers, is looking forward to the challenge. "We're not intimidated, because we have nothing to lose," West said. "Obviously, we're the underdogs coming into this game. Even though they're the favorite, we're a different team this year, but a lot of people still don't realize that yet." The Quakers may still be underdogs, but they're a better, more confident breed this time around.