Close finishes the rule for W. Hoops

(See below for corrections.) The Penn women's basketball team is growing accustomed to last-minute, clutch-the-edge-of-your-seat endings. Last weekend, the Quakers watched as the ball rimmed out in the final seconds, shattering the hopes of the opposing team. But this weekend, it was Penn who needed that last-second shot. Once again, Penn's prayers were answered. A last second basket on Friday night sent the game into overtime where the Quakers defeated Yale, 71-65. They lost to Brown, 83-72, Saturday night. Penn (10-10, 4-3 Ivy League) came into the Yale (4-15, 1-7) game running on the momentum of two big wins last weekend at the Palestra. Though that proved enough to get them through the first half, the Quakers found themselves in a dire situation as the seconds began to wind down. "They were just hitting everything," Penn sophomore Karen Habrukowich said. "And defensively, we kind of struggled." Penn led, 32-25, at the end of the first half, but trailed 61-59 with only 26 seconds to play. The Quakers fouled Yale's Julie Cohen, sending her to the line for a one-and-one attempt. Cohen missed the first shot, giving Penn a final chance. Habrukowich went for the win, shooting a three-pointer. The shot rimmed out, but bounced directly to Penn sophomore Cat Makarowich, who netted the easy shot. "We were really executing at the end, especially with Cat and the two points," Habrukowich said. "That really got us fired up to go into overtime. Penn dominated the overtime period against the deflated Elis. Junior Jewel Clark scored eight of the Quakers' ten points in the extra stanza, giving the Red and Blue an early lead, which it never relinquished. Clark led Penn with 24 points, and was helped by sophomore center Katie Kilker, who had 18 points, and Habrukowich, who scored 14. Clark and Kilker both earned double-doubles by grabbing 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Forward Lindsay Page led the Elis with 15 points on the night. Brown (12-9, 6-2) came into the weekend looking for vengeance after suffering their only two losses at the hands of Harvard and Dartmouth last week. On Friday night, Brown was victorious over Princeton and was looking to take care of Penn on Saturday. The first half was played to a near-draw, despite huge runs by the Bears and the Quakers. The lead went back and forth, but Penn finished the half with the advantage, leading Brown 41-40. In the second half, however, Brown came out and dominated. The Bears held Penn to a mere three points in the first nine and a half minutes, while adding 15 points to their total. Penn attributes this setback to their lack of aggressiveness beneath the basket. "What really killed us was the offensive rebounding," Habrukowich said. "They just went on a huge run in the second half." The deficit proved to be too great for Penn to overcome, as they fell by nine. Clark put up 21 points against Brown, bringing her weekend total to 45 and her overall points scored to 1,094. Just last weekend, Clark broke the 1,000 point barrier and continues to move up in the ranks of Penn's all-time leading scorers. She is currently in sixth place, trailing Shelly Bowers (1991-95) in fifth by 97 points. The Quakers' all-time leading scorer is Diana Caramanico who finished her Penn career with 1,808 points in (1997-2001). If Clark keeps up this season's average of 19.9 points per game through next year she could finish first on the list. Clark and the Quakers will take to the court at the Palestra next weekend in two crucial Ivy League games. They face league-leading Harvard Friday and third-place Dartmouth on Saturday. Winning both of these games is critical if the Quakers hope to keep their Ivy League Championship hopes alive.

Corrections

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