Much of the talk as the Ivy League women's basketball season approaches has centered on the fact that two-time defending champion Harvard is a prohibitive favorite. Suffice to say that Penn sees things differently.
The Quakers kick off the 2003-2004 campaign tomorrow night in the Retriever Classic at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, fully convinced that they can take the Ancient Eight title -- and then some -- by the time March rolls around. And with the core of its team returning from last season, there is plenty of reason for optimism.
"What makes a team stacked?" Penn senior Jewel Clark asked of the Crimson. "When we play Harvard or whoever, it's a matter of who wants it more that night."
To ensure that their ability matches the desire, Quakers coach Kelly Greenberg has emphasized fitness in the preseason as part of her desire to run a more fastbreak-oriented attack.
"When we run at practice, it's never a negative thing," she said. "We've got to run in order to be an uptempo team."
In addition to running, the Quakers have spent considerable time in the weight room and also went through a kickboxing regimen with their strength coach, Jim Steel.
In the end, Greenberg wants a situation where "no one's going to be in better shape than us."
But a number of injuries have slowed the team's work so far this year. Junior center Katie Kilker is "practicing 50 percent right now," according to Greenberg, as a result of mononucleosis. Junior guard Karen Habrukowich is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will not be ready until January, and sophomore forward Rachel Wilson is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered two weeks ago. Her surgery is scheduled for Dec. 18.
But there is good news on the injury front as well -- junior point guard Amanda Kammes is now almost fully recovered from a torn ACL of her own, and will start tonight.
Kilker believes that the team can succeed in spite of its lengthy disabled list.
"Everyone who is back is going hard and strong," she said. "It's just a matter of getting back in shape, getting back into doing what we know to do."
It has been three years now since Penn last won the Ivy League title. Clark and fellow senior Mikaelyn Austin are the only two members of the current team who were around for the 2000-2001 championship season, and they are determined to fully seize their last opportunity to win the Ivies again.
"There is no next year for me," Clark said. "There definitely is an urgency with that."
Clark sees one aspect of the current team that brings back memories of her freshman year -- its hustle.
"It's not a stated priority, but just in the way we play and our actions on the floor, it seems to be a focus whether people realize it or not," she said. "You either learn it when you're small, and if you do, it stays with you -- if you miss out on it, it's hard to catch up sometimes."
As for this weekend's opposition -- Iona and Delaware State are the tournament's other two participants -- Greenberg admits that "we don't know much about them in all honesty."
The host UMBC went to the championship game of the America East Conference Tournament last year, but graduated all five of its starters from that team.
Greenberg believes that it is to her team's benefit that there is relatively little information out there on this weekend's teams.
"We can be more focused on us, don't get too much into the scouting report," she said. "Just let's think about what we need to do to get it done."
