W. Hoops still alive after split

Penn lost to Dartmouth on Friday night but handled Harvard one night later. The Penn women's basketball team took a wild amusement park ride over the weekend that was filled with enough twists, turns, ups and downs to make the most experienced rider sick. Then, as if they were on a real roller coaster, the Quakers came to rest exactly where they had begun, tied with Harvard one game behind Ivy League-leading Dartmouth. After Penn (17-8, 8-3 Ivy League) came up four points short against Dartmouth on Friday in a game which Penn coach Kelly Greenberg had called "the most important in the history of the program," the Quakers bounced back the next night to beat the Crimson (15-8, 8-3), 79-66. "Welcome to the Ivy League," Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "I love it, you've got to love it. Any coach in the Ivy League that puts undefeated as their goal is crazy." Delaney-Smith loves it because Dartmouth (17-7, 9-2) was upset by Princeton on Saturday night. Specifically, the Big Green's loss gives Harvard a renewed chance to contend for the Ivy League title. If the Crimson win all of their remaining games -- including their season finale at Dartmouth on March 7 -- they will clinch at least a tie for the championship. The Quakers, meanwhile, must win all of their games and have Dartmouth lose one to tie for the title. Penn never had a lead over the Big Green, in part because of Dartmouth point guard Courtney Banghart, who converted her first four three-point attempts, hit 5-of-7 from downtown in the first half and finished the game with 21 points. "The first six minutes of the game killed us," Greenberg said. "You can't let a Banghart come out and shoot threes like that, and we did. We knew that's what she could do, and it's just very disappointing that we let her do it. It's not a team where you can play catch-up very easily." Although Dartmouth coach Chris Weilgus said that her team had wanted to stop Penn's inside game, junior forward Diana Caramanico had virtually free rein, as she hit 13 out of 15 field goals and ended the night with a game-high 29 points. But it wasn't enough, as the Quakers, who were trailing by less than five points virtually the entire game, could never catch the Big Green. "We were tied or down by two for such long periods of time, and we just didn't take advantage of it," Caramanico said. "That's what really hurts about this loss, I know we can be a better team than them. We just didn't capitalize on the opportunities they gave us." All told, the Quakers were within striking distance -- down by three or less -- for a full 14 minutes over the course of the game. However, Penn's 21 turnovers all too often ruined any chance to tie or take the lead. One two-minute stretch in particular was especially frustrating for the Quakers. From the 2:15 to the 15-second mark, the Quakers were down by three, and neither team was able to score until Dartmouth freshman Katherine Hanks hit one free throw with 15.1 seconds remaining to put the game virtually out of reach. All this came after senior guard Mandy West led a furious Quakers comeback from 10 points down. West hit two three-pointers, had a three-point play and outscored the Big Green 9-2 in a one-minute stretch toward the end of the game. "Credit Mandy, she got good looks, and she just shot real well," Weilgus said. "We knew she was a great player, but we just made our free throws down the stretch and time ran out on them." West's own coach also raved about her performance. "The girl's just tough," Greenberg said. "I've said it all year. If all of us could be as tough and gutsy as Mandy is all the time, we'd get all over people. She comes right back, she doesn't put her head down, she never stops." The Quakers didn't keep their heads down for long. As the Quakers welcomed Harvard to the Palestra on Saturday, they were greeted by an unusual sight -- fans, lots of them. "There were people everywhere, I couldn't believe it," Caramanico said. "I really want to thank all the fans that came out to our game. That really made a difference. I've never played in the Palestra with this many people." The Quakers drew record crowds all weekend, as they broke 1,000 fans for the first time against Dartmouth and smashed that record the next night, drawing 2,200 for the Harvard game. And the Red and Blue did not disappoint, as the game was almost a carbon copy of the previous night's contest -- except this one ended in Penn's favor. Caramanico led the Quakers for the second straight night, with 31 points, and her co-captain, West, ended with 22. "Penn's a great team. They have the two best players in the league," Delaney-Smith said. "[Caramanico and West] are tremendous players, and they stepped it up tonight and played a great game." On this night, the Crimson had only one lead the entire game and committed 25 turnovers, which was the main reason for the Penn win. That, and they came out angry. "I think the team was focused," Greenberg said. "Di and Mandy couldn't wait to get on the floor. I just felt like we had the game the whole time." But that confidence didn't stop Greenberg -- who is never shy in voicing her opinion to the officiating crew -- from drawing a technical foul midway through the second half. "I was showing the ref how to count three seconds," she said. "He wasn't too pleased with me."

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