Women's basketball: Slumping squads set to collide

These Quakers are hoping that this season does not turn into a repeat of last.

Despite winning its first two games, the women's basketball team has struggled in the face of tougher competition, losing three straight games.

Penn (2-3) will try to right its ship when it tips off tonight against Lafayette (2-5).

The Quakers are coming off of a game in which they showed improvement. Most importantly, their high-intensity defense completely stifled Villanova in the second half, holding the Wildcats without a field goal in the final 11:22 of the game.

The Quakers see no need to change their successful style of play. They plan to build on their new communication and continue to be aggressive.

"We're always going to press," coach Pat Knapp said. "The ladies like it, and I think it tests your opponent immediately. Are they going to be competitive today? Are they interested in competing?"

Yet the Quakers have a test of their own tonight. In the first half, they shot just 30 percent, missing wide-open layups. They improved in the second, but still failed to capitalize on several chances to tie the game.

So Knapp focused on "clean[ing] up some of our offensive execution."

Lauren Pears, Anca Popovici, and Kelly Scott - who were a combined 3-for-14 shooting in their last contest - all stayed late after Tuesday's practice to work on their shooting. The team also spent some practice time watching film of its trouble spots..

All season long, the Quakers have gotten nearly all of their offense from two players, seniors Monica Naltner and Joey Rhoads. They are averaging 20.4 and 15.6 points per game, respectively, and combined for 41 of the Quakers' 50 points on Sunday.

"We've got to make sure that we . pick up their scorers from the outside and try to keep Naltner off the boards," Lafayette coach Tammy Smith said. "She's been doing a great job scoring."

As the leading scorer, the team relies on Naltner to come out big every contest.

"I wouldn't call it a burden," Naltner said. "I think that we both, as seniors, want that responsibility and accept it."

Rhoads agreed, but also thought the trend would change as other players step up.

"We have a lot of people on the team with the ability to score a lot, and that's going to happen," she said. "We have a very balanced team."

Penn will try to find another offensive threat against a team that has also been suffering through a rough spot. The Leopards have lost four games in a row, during which they have been plagued by turnovers.

"We have to make better decisions," Smith said. "If we shore that part of our game up, the outcomes could be drastically different."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.