Penn center Jennifer Fleischer has had a good week. The newly named Big 5 co-Player of the Week has averaged a double-double in her last three games including a 21 point, 16 rebound performance against Saint Joseph's.
But unfortunately for Penn (3-4), the Quakers are just 1-2 in those games. Fleischer has led the team in rebounding in all seven of its games, but the Quakers will need more than just her if they hope to get a victory in either of their next two contests.
Saturday the team will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to take on Marist (2-3) and this Monday, the Palestra will play host to Penn's matchup against No. 10 Ohio State (7-1).
"Everybody needs to help Fleisch out," Penn guard Cat Makarewich said. "She's getting a lot of rebounds, but she's a good rebounder. That why she's out there; she needs some support from the rest of us."
Penn has been outrebounded in each of its last two losses despite the numbers put up by Fleischer.
"We're helping the other team defeat us," said Penn guard Amanda Kammes, who left the Temple game early after coming down gingerly in the first half. Kammes plans to play Monday despite the injury.
"We really have to pick up our defense and rebounding, and we really have to pick it up on the offensive end too," she said. "We're gonna try and work on those things and hopefully improve on them against Marist and OSU."
Even the most optimistic forecast of the long weekend sees the Quakers as hard-pressed to win both games. Penn hopes to take in the lessons of another game against yet another top team.
Ohio St. will be the fourth top 30 team the Red and Blue have faced this year, joining Maryland, Colorado andVillanova.
The No. 10 Buckeyes may also be the best team the Quakers will face all year.
"We've had a couple chances to play against ranked teams and to really make a mark and I don't think we really have played our best," Makarewich said. "It's just another chance to play against a good team and come out and make a statement, and we're up for the challenge."
Penn has lost all three of its games against top-30 teams by 20 or more points, so the Quakers could make a statement simply by putting up a fight.
"Ohio State is gonna be in your face, all over the court for 40 minutes, taking it to us," Kammes said. "We know what to expect and it's nothing new."
Ohio St. is led by 6-foot-5 center Jessica Davenport. Davenport has averaged 17 points and seven rebounds a game this season and it should be a tough matchup for a Penn team that has struggled on the boards.
"We've got some good people inside and if they show up and we play good team defense, I'm not worried about it," Kammes said. "And in terms of the size difference and the tempo of the game, its not gonna be much different than Maryland."
But before Penn tangles with Ohio St. it will first get a chance to win a road game against Marist on Saturday night, but a win is far from a guarantee.
Marist is led by a pair of six-footers, Fifi Camara and Kristin Keller. So far this year, the Red Foxes have been playing tenacious defense. They are ranked sixth in the nation in opponent's field goal percentage, holding their competition to a measly 31.1 percent shooting. The Quakers will have to shoot better than that if they want to come away with a win on Saturday.
"They always give us a good game; they're a good team," Kammes said. "I expect it to be a dogfight."
Penn, at least, is used to dogfights. Very little has come easily for the Quakers who haven't had any kind of a break in competition since their first game of the season.
They've had two Big 5 wins -- a first for a Penn women's basketball team -- with tough victories over La Salle and St. Joseph's.
The team's early success, however, has been quickly forgotten after back-to-back losses against Villanova and Temple. The current slide has increased the importance of this weekend.
"We definitely want a win," Makarewich said of the game at Marist. "We need a win at this point. We have two bad losses and as far as morale goes and everything like that we definitely need a win.
And Marist is definitely beatable and we're gonna go up there with the expectation of going up there and winning."
Penn has won their last two meetings with the Red Foxes -- an overtime game at Marist two years ago and a tough win at home last year.
But, in this early non-league schedule, wins and losses often take a back seat to improvement. And playing against top-level teams can only make the Quakers better.
"These last two games have been disappointing," Makarewich said. "But overall I'm not gonna say it's been disappointing at all. Out of every game we're taking things and all these tough game are gonna help us in the long run."
And if the rest of team is able to step up and help out Penn's frontcourt, this weekend shouldn't hurt the Quakers' record either.
