W. Hoops to face Delaware tonight

Yogi Berra once proclaimed that the game isn't over until it's over. Perhaps this year's Penn women's basketball team's results live up to that claim. In a season that has seen 12 out of 13 games decided by 10 points or fewer, the women's basketball team will be looking to trap the Delaware Blue Hens early on tonight at the Palestra. Penn (5-8) plays host to the invading Blue Hens (11-4). After a lackluster start to the season -- in which they dropped their first three games -- the Blue Hens have flown to new heights, winning 11 out of their last 12 games in convincing fashion. Penn senior forward Sunny Pitrof expressed the need for strong play from her team tonight against the Hens, beginning at the opening tip. "We're definitely preparing to come out strong -- that's been a problem of ours in the past," Pitrof said. "Recently, we've done a lot better at increasing the intensity in the past two or three games, so we're trying to come out strong again tomorrow." Delaware will bring an up-tempo style of play into the confines of the Palestra, led by guard Allison Trapp. Trapp -- coming off a 34-point performance against Hofstra earlier this month -- and the rest of her offense-minded teammates have not gone unnoticed by the Quakers and their coaching staff. "She's the quickest player we will play all year," coach Kelly Greenberg said. "Our players are aware of her, and we're not going to be able to stop her totally. But if we can contain her and limit her shots, then I think we will do well." Penn will be attempting to avenge last year's loss to the Blue Hens, when they traveled to Newark, Del., and fell, 79-58. However, the Quakers will also be focused on fine tuning their skills in the final regular season matchup before their Ivy League schedule fills out their season starting Friday. Starting point guard Tara Twomey noted the closeness of the games played this season and the need for consistent play at this point in the schedule with Ivy League competition looming just a few days away. "There definitely are a lot of good things that we do, but a lot of games that we have lost we should have or could have won," Twomey said. "We just need to work on being consistent overall." This week will be telling for the Quakers, as the Red and Blue leave the Penn campus this weekend for matchups against Harvard and Dartmouth, two of the perennial favorites in Ivy League women's basketball. Yet Greenberg is welcoming the challenge of the two teams who out-size the Quakers and also tower over the passage to an Ivy League crown and postseason appearance. "We lost a lot of tough games early to very talented teams, and I really like our team -- the versatility, the youth, the leadership -- and I feel good going into the Ivy League," Greenberg said. "We are excited we are going right into the thick of things against Harvard and Dartmouth, who are traditionally the two best teams in the Ivy League."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.