The Penn women's basketball team was simply up against a better team.
Coming in with a 2-1 mark in Big 5 play, the Quakers hoped to add to what was already their best single-season intracity record, but fell at the hands of the Owls, 63-46, last night in the Liacouras Center.
The Quakers (3-4) lost more than just the game. With six minutes remaining in the first half, starting point guard Amanda Kammes landed awkwardly after going for a loose ball. The senior captain came off the court in pain. Penn coach Pat Knapp was given the OK to put her back in, but after seeing her hop gingerly after a fast break, he subbed her out for the remainder of the game.
Stepping in as Kammes' replacement, sophomore Joey Rhoads played 31 minutes and scored 11 points. The most Rhoads had played in a game previously was Dec. 1 against St. Joseph's when she logged 26 minutes.
"Rhoads, she steps in and she's ready to rock and roll every time she's on the floor," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "I think she's a little more offensive-minded, she likes to mix it up a little bit. We were prepared for both point guards."
Amid the many negative conclusions that could be drawn from this game, Knapp chose to take away the positive from Rhoads' performance.
"I'd like to give Joey Rhoads props for taking it at these people," Knapp said. "And [she] continued to push it and be aggressive. I thought she was the one kid that was unfazed."
Last night, Rhoads' point total was surpassed by that of only one other teammate, Monica Naltner, who scored 13.
Temple point guard Cynthia Jordan led all scorers with 21 points, while her teammates Kamesha Hairston and Ari Moore netted 13 apiece. Candice Dupree, the Owls' leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, was held to just nine points by a Red and Blue defensive strategy, which was tailored largely to stopping her.
After going into the break leading 26-15, Temple used a 17-2 run early in the second half to pull away from the Quakers for good.
The Red and Blue struggled to put points on the board all night. Staley's Owls (4-3) employed an aggressive man-to-man defense that seemed to confound Penn on offense. The Quakers coughed up the ball 19 times in the game and managed only 15 first-half points.
"Right now we're struggling with some things," Knapp said. "We need to score, and when we don't, every other play gets magnified. Early on we didn't box out and then we toughened up on the boards a little bit."
The Quakers were outrebounded 44-37 by their Atlantic 10 opponents. Jennifer Fleischer, who came in averaging 9.7 boards a game, was held largely in check, grabbing eight. Staley, in an astute coaching move, put Lady Comfort, a 6-foot-2-inch center with a physical presence, on Fleischer inside. Comfort and Dupree combined for 17 rebounds.
Despite the praise aimed at her by Knapp, Rhoads was not satisfied by her performance last night.
"I know they were helping a lot on Karen [Habrukowich] and Cat [Makarewich], which left the point guard open for drives," Rhoads said. "I think I should have converted a lot more of them."
Despite the subpar performance, Staley was impressed with the intensity the Red and Blue managed to muster.
Penn is a "very hard-nosed, gritty, scrappy team," Staley said. "The type of team that's great in the loose-ball department, the scrappiness, the getting after it, the aggressiveness. I like Penn a lot. I like their team. I like the way they play. I like the way they never give up and play for 40 minutes."
