Joey Rhoads might have been nervous playing her first game at the Palestra. But judging by last night's performance, it's her opponents who have reason to worry.
The freshman guard -- listed on the roster at 5'4" but probably at least a couple of inches shorter -- had 15 points, including 11 in the second half, as the Penn women's basketball team notched an 86-78 victory over Marist last night.
The Quakers (2-2) trailed at the half, 39-37, but led by senior Jewel Clark's 27 points, Penn was able to pull away from the Red Foxes (1-2) in the second half. Seven three-pointers after halftime, including three by Rhoads, provided the difference.
"It's just a matter of the coach putting you out there," Rhoads said. "As a freshman you're gonna make mistakes. But there's gonna be good plays too, and I just try and remember that. You try and play how you normally play."
Rhoads started off slowly, and Penn coach Kelly Greenberg kept her on the bench for most of the first half after a couple of turnovers, but she exploded in the second half.
Her last three-pointer gave Penn a 70-67 lead with 9:16 remaining, a lead the Quakers would never relinquish.
"She's going to be someone that teams are gonna have to prepare for," Greenberg said. "She's coming along great as a freshman, with such poise, that she doesn't look like a freshman at all out there."
At the outset, it appeared the Quakers wouldn't need her as they scored the game's first nine points. But the Red Foxes impressively turned the tables led by forwards Stephanie Del Preore and Maureen Magarity. Marist ended the half with a 13-0 run to take a two-point lead into the break.
The fact that Penn went into the locker room trailing despite shooting 64 percent from the field was startling. But it was understandable given the Quakers' 13 first-half turnovers and a 28-16 Marist advantage in the paint.
"I just think it was a lack of focus," Greenberg said. "Leaving some wide open shooters, we had some mental lapses defensively. That was our biggest downfall of the half; we have to finish things mentally."
The Red Foxes continued to get good looks inside, but they could not match the Quakers shot-for-shot. Clark had 19 of her game-high 27 in the second half, on 6-of-9 shooting. Fellow senior Mikaelyn Austin had two second-half threes, including one with 2:48 remaining to increase Penn's lead to 82-76. Marist never got closer than six for the rest of the way.
Greenberg will find many areas of her team that need work. The Quakers were outscored by 20 points in the paint and were dominated on the boards in the second half, 20-13.
But with the emergence of Rhoads, the team's biggest problem of finding a scorer to take the pressure off Clark, may be solved.
