W. Hoops shoots for big finish in Big 5

The Penn women's basketball team will close out its most successful Big 5 campaign ever as it travels up Broad Street to face Temple tonight.

Should they win, the Quakers (3-3, 2-1 Big 5) will extend their program record to three Big 5 victories this season. But the task will not be easy.

Led by star junior center Candice Dupree, the Owls (3-3, 0-0) are enjoying one of the best seasons in their history despite their seemingly mediocre record.

All three losses have come to nationally-renowned teams, including No. 2 Louisiana State and No. 1 Tennessee. Temple lost to the Tigers at home, 65-51, and nearly upset the Lady Volunteers in Knoxville but fell in the end, 52-48. The most recent loss came in the Owls' last game, a 78-59 defeat at Florida.

The wins have come at home against Morgan State, and on the road against Brown and East Tennessee State.

Perhaps more pertinent to tonight's game, though, is the fact that Penn won at the Liacouras Center last season, 70-64. It is this result that has been foremost in Quakers coach Patrick Knapp's mind this week.

"We need to switch some things up based on what we did last year, because they'll be ready for it," he said.

The 6-foot-2 Dupree is Temple's main offensive threat. She leads the team with 14.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Against the Gators, she scored 18 points and pulled down a game high 11 rebounds.

That last statistic is of no small importance to Knapp, especially after Penn was outrebounded by Villanova, 39-34, in a 69-44 loss to the Wildcats this past Sunday.

"We got our butts kicked on the boards," Knapp said. "That was an absolute killer."

Dupree has been somewhat foul-prone, though. She accrued three personal fouls against LSU, four against Tennessee and five against East Tennessee State, removing her from that game.

Knapp also believes that Temple "won't shoot as many threes" as Villanova did, "which mathematically gives us a better shot, I would think -- I would hope."

The Wildcats made 11 of 25 three-point attempts against the Quakers while holding Penn to only 2-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

So far this season, Temple has made only 17 of 66 three-point attempts. But the teams the Owls have played have been equally unsuccessful from long range, combining for only 19 made shots in 70 attempts.

Although Florida made 11 of 24 three-point attempts against the Owls, Temple held Morgan State to only one made three out of seven attempts in a 72-42 win on Dec. 1. The Owls held Brown to 3-for-13 shooting from long range, and LSU was 0-4 from beyond the arc.

Nonetheless, Temple coach Dawn Staley is anticipating plenty of attacking fire from the Red and Blue.

"They are hard-nosed and scrappy," she said. "They are my kind of team. They may not be the most athletic, but they even the playing field by being physical and aggressive."

If Penn can do that again tonight, it stands a good chance of adding to its historic start to this season.

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