Ivy elites give Quakers a cold reality check

Penn's flicker of hope for an improbable Ivy League women's basketball championship was short-lived.

On Friday, Dartmouth (5-2 Ivy) continued its roll in a big way, as the Big Green won, 70-43. Harvard (6-1) held off the Quakers, 87-74, to maintain its spot atop the Ivy standings.

After a Palestra sweep two weekends ago, this weekend's two losses drop Penn to a 3-4 conference record, 8-12 overall, and into sixth place.

In the cold of New England, the Ivy's top two schools relied on hot perimeter shooting to essentially extinguish Penn's title aspirations.

Dartmouth drained nine three-pointers, while Penn made just two. Harvard tallied seven outside the arc the next evening.

"I might have to think of a way to play these guys better," Penn coach Pat Knapp conceded. "Some of those shots were contested, some of them weren't. Some of them were miscommunications by our team, some of them we were flat out beat on.

"Give them credit, they shot their lights out," he continued. "We need to contest those shots to make sure they don't make them."

In Hanover, the Quakers' offense was completely stifled by the Big Green and held to just 31.6 percent shooting - and only seven field goals in the second half.

In Cambridge, missed opportunities prevented a Penn comeback. The visitors had cut the Crimson lead to single digits before ultimately falling out of reach.

"We had a lot of open looks," Knapp said of the Harvard game. "Their three guards scored a buttload of points, but we had enough open shots that that game could have gone to the wire."

Incidentally, Penn's usual suspects were overshadowed by strong performances off the bench. Senior Ashley Gray was Penn's only double-digit scorer at Dartmouth with 10 points. Sophomore Kelly Scott - who started in lieu of Naltner on Friday - came off the bench to eclipse all other Quakers scorers with 18 points in Saturday's shootout.

"Having scoring from off the bench is a positive thing," Knapp said. "As we get into the coming games, we are going to see more zone, and Kelly needs to be ready to play."

But ultimately, it was a lack of production from the big two that doomed Penn. Seniors Joey Rhoads and Naltner combined for just 38 points on the weekend - a number the tandem can usually combine for in one game.

Penn returns to the hardwood this weekend when bouts with the New York Ivies at Cornell and Columbia.

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