W. Hoops closes out season with three straight victories

After a home loss to Yale on March 1, the Penn women's basketball team rebounded in its final three games of the season knocking off Columbia, Cornell and Princeton. The three wins improved the Quakers' final record to 15-12 overall and 9-5 in the Ivy League. The victory over Princeton earned a tie for second place in the Ancient Eight with both Brown and Dartmouth. Penn 72, Columbia 62 The Red and Blue's first win of the three came against Columbia in New York. Junior guard Mikaelyn Austin led the Quakers on the night with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, which included three from behind the arc. Junior guard Jewel Clark was in an unusual position as the Quakers' second leading scorer with 12 points, 9 boards and 5 assists on the night. Clark is the team's leading scorer on the year, averaging 19.2 points per game to go along with 9.6 rebounds a game. After trailing by eight points during the first half, the Red and Blue rallied to take a two point lead into the halftime break, 34-32. The Quakers' defense came alive in the second half, and Columbia's shooting cooled off as the Lions shot just 32 percent from the field in the second stanza. Sophomore guard Maria DiDonato burst forth for Penn in the 10 point win, scoring 10 points in just 12 minutes of action. Penn 65, Cornell 52 The Quakers traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday to face off against Cornell after taking care of the Lions. Sophomore guard Karen Habrukowich turned in a solid performance for the Quakers, scoring a team-high 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. DiDonato was impressive off the bench, again scoring 10 points, and senior point guard Tara Twomey also added 10 points. The Quakers were hot from the field in the first half, shooting an impressive 46.4-percent and 8-for-14 from behind three-point range. Despite Cornell's Lauren Kilduff pouring in a career-high 20 points on the night and Lynell Davis adding 13, Penn was able to control the game in the first half, jumping out to a 35-22 lead at the half. Penn 76, Princeton 69 In its traditional final game of the regular season the Quakers welcomed Princeton to the Palestra on Wednesday night. Entering the game with a 9-18 record and a 4-9 mark in the Ivy League, Princeton was playing for pride while the Quakers were looking to secure a tie for second place in the league. In typical fashion, the recent first-team All-Ivy selection Clark led the Red and Blue with 19 points and six rebounds. In its last contest of the season the Red and Blue said farewell to four seniors -- Twomey, Ima Abia, Sunny Pitrof and Jenn Jones.

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