BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- In the end, it was just too much.
Too much Diana Taurasi from outside. Too much Jessica Moore and Barbara Turner from inside. Too much noise from the screeching, pom-pom waving Connecticut fans, drowning out the chants of "Let's go Quakers" which persisted through the night.
And although the Penn women's basketball team, the No. 15 seed in the East region of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, refused to give in to the No. 2 Huskies, it eventually succumbed to a 91-55 defeat at the Arena at Harbor Yard last night.
I was very proud of our team's performance," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said. "I just thought [Connecticut]'s size, strength and level of quickness was very apparent early in the game."
The average height of Connecticut's starting five was 6-foot-1, compared to 5-9 for Penn.
Taurasi, the Huskies' superstar guard, led all scorers with 18 points, including 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Each of her baskets drew thunderous roars from the capacity crowd of 9,091, many of whom were young girls with posters decorated in Taurasi's honor.
At the same time, poorer-than-normal shooting may have cost Penn a chance to make the margin smaller than it was. The Quakers shot only 33 percent from the field, and 38 percent from three-point range. Jewel Clark, playing in her final game for the Red and Blue, led Penn with 16 points. Fellow senior Mikaelyn Austin had 14 points.
Connecticut led, 51-23, at halftime, spurred mainly by a 28-7 run over a span of 8:30 as the first half wound down. But Penn stayed close early, keeping the score as close as 11-6 six minutes into the game.
"Tonight, we came out, our energy level was on an extreme high, and that's just something you get happy about," Clark said. "We asked from each other that we get excited about the game and not back down, and not be afraid to play, and that's how we came out."
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, a Philadelphia area native, was "pretty pleased with the way we played."
"I thought for the most part we pretty much played it the way we wanted to play it," he said.
But although the game went according to his expectations, the wisecracking Auriemma praised Penn for not being "all in awe of the whole NCAA-UConn thing."
"They played and they competed," he said. "The big kids tried to take the ball to the basket against us, and succeeded at times, and their shooters shot the ball with a lot of confidence."
The Huskies were particularly dominant inside against the Red and Blue. Forward Barbara Turner and center Jessica Moore had 17 and 15 points, respectively, many of which were scored in the paint.
"We really wanted to make a big presence in the post," Moore said.
The point was not lost on Greenberg.
"The first half, Barbara Turner just jumped all over us," she said. "Their inside game was much too big, much too strong, much too athletic for us."
Greenberg responded in the second half by giving Katie Kilker considerable playing time, and the junior responded by scoring 12 points in 14 minutes on the floor.
Connecticut benefitted from a partisan crowd, which Auriemma believed was particularly energetic since his team plays most of its games in Storrs and Hartford, which are considerable drives from last night's venue.
"The crowd down here doesn't get to see many of our games," he said. "It's a whole different group of people, I think."
As the clock ticked down and the crowd started to head for the exits, Penn's thoughts started to turn not only to its departing seniors but also to the possibilities for next year, when the Quakers will have five seniors and considerable firepower on offense.
"There's certainly some tears," Greenberg said. "They are in there talking about it already, 'Let's be the first Penn team to get back-to-back Ivy champs. As a coach that's what you want to hear from your team."
For Clark in particular, it was a bittersweet night. She accumulated three fouls in the first half, limiting her playing time. But she did not foul out and received a standing ovation from the Penn fans in attendance when she was substituted for with 3:11 to go in the game.
"You decide right away it's not going to be a passing moment, but more so something that you gave your all," the Waldorf, Md., native said. "You played against UConn, you didn't back down, you weren't afraid -- if you had the chance you'd do it again."
