Notebook: W. Hoops calls out for support from alumni

The Quakers spent Monday on the phones getting alums to attend Saturday's game. The Penn women's basketball team had its customary day off on Monday to follow a busy weekend of Ivy League games. The Quakers still got together, though. Instead of working the ball around the court, they were working the phones. They called alumni -- some of whom were former players -- asking for contributions to the program and inviting them to a reception at the Palestra preceding this Saturday's game against Harvard. At least one of the Quakers found that her conversations with alums were reward enough. "One lady from the Class of '43 was really excited," freshman forward Jennifer Jones said. "Talking about how she used to play six-on-six, halfcourt [basketball] back in the day." On Julie Epton's list was a former Quaker whose name has been mentioned in these pages quite a bit recently. The sophomore called Kirsten Brendel, whose career points record was broken last Friday by junior forward Diana Caramanico. "[The list] said she worked overseas in Germany or something, but I just called her home address somewhere in Jersey," Epton said. "I just left a message. I didn't say anything about Di breaking her record." · Calling wasn't the only thing the Quakers were doing Monday. Even though they had a day off from practice, the members of the team met and discussed the events of the past weekend, which left the Quakers tied with Harvard for second place in the league at 7-2 -- one game behind Dartmouth (8-1). "We watched the Columbia tape, which was really frustrating. It's terrible when you lose to someone you're better than." Epton said of Saturday's 70-67 loss. "I definitely think we're the better team," Jones said. "We took this team for granted, and they came to play." The Quakers play two games this weekend that could make or break their chances for the team's first-ever Ivy League title. Penn coach Kelly Greenberg talked to her players about the weekend's importance. "We had a short discussion about things that [Greenberg] thinks are important," Epton said. "[She talked] about the things that make a championship team and what it takes to become one." One of those things is avoiding letdowns on those all-important Ivy League Saturday nights. "The past two weeks, we've lost our Saturday games," Epton said. "So we talked about 'building up' and not forgetting about the Saturday game after a big Friday night win." · The Quakers were plastered by league-leading Dartmouth back on February 12, one night after taking sole possession of first place by beating a then-undefeated Harvard team. But the Quakers still control their own destiny and, with wins over Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday, can vault back into first place. "We still feel like we can win this thing," Epton said. · The Red and Blue got a little extra campus media exposure last night as tri-captains Diana Caramanico and Mandy West, along with Greenberg, appeared on the UTV13 show Out of Bounds, co-hosted by Penn men's basketball player Michael Jordan and UTV sportscaster Adam Thomas. Last night's episode was a tamer, more subdued incarnation of the normally raucous show, as Greenberg provided a little "adult supervision." "It was definitely more subdued than usual," Epton said. "They didn't use as much interesting language. They definitely toned it down because Coach was there." Epton thought that, despite some of the antics of the show's regulars, it will help to increase the support for the Quakers. "It would be great to have more fans for the games this weekend," she said. "We have fans, but it would be nice if it were a little more like at Harvard and Dartmouth, where they packed them in." · West -- despite playing with major back pain last weekend -- has been the Quakers' leading scorer for the last three games, with totals of 28, 23 and 18 points. "That's just her leadership," Jones said of her teammate's gutty performances. "She leads by her scoring and by example. She's really tough, despite her injuries."

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