W. Hoops | Never shy, Biemer hits the spot for Quakers

Clinging to a three-point lead with 19 seconds left, there was no doubt which player Penn would lean on to put the game away.

Junior forward Carrie Biemer calmly nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to effectively end the game as the Quakers finished off a 66-58 victory over the Broncs (3-3).

"I was open," said Biemer, whose size advantage over Rider's defenders helped her score 19 points both inside and out. "And that is kind of my three-point spot."

"Well, we always look for her," Quakers coach Pat Knapp said. "She's not shy. . We want her to take that shot."

The win marked the second straight impressive victory for the Quakers (3-3), who were facing a Rider team that has been energized by the arrival of new coach Lynn Miller. Rider has already surpassed its victory total from last season, when it finished with a 2-28 record.

"Until tonight [the biggest reason for our turnaround] was our defense and rebounding," Miller said. "Tonight we didn't see that to the level that we've seen in the past. We're building the foundation of this program on discipline, on defense, on rebounding."

Despite the eight-point margin of victory, the contest was close throughout. At halftime, the score was knotted up at 29 apiece, and there were 15 lead changes.

Penn overcame 31 combined points from Rider's Shaunice Parker and Janele Henderson, thanks in part to Biemer's 19 points and senior Kimberly Franklin's 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

"[Penn] ran their offense very, very well, and we didn't meet that challenge as far as the defensive end goes," Miller said.

In one of their best defensive efforts of the season, the Quakers relied on a 2-3 zone to neutralize Rider's penetration. During one stretch, Penn switched to a man-to-man defense, but quickly switched back to the zone after the Broncs reeled off six straight points.

"A lot of our guards are better at penetrating than they are at shooting," Miller said. "They challenged us to make some threes and to shoot them out of that zone, which we didn't do."

Knapp cited his team's advantages in rebounding, three-point shooting percentage, and personal fouls as other keys to victory.

Although the Quakers have cut down on their turnovers compared to earlier in the season, Knapp was still disappointed that his team had 15 giveaways.

Junior guard Anca Popovici said the team has been focusing in practice on having "positive offensive possessions," which the team was able to do more often in the second half.

"If you're dribbling around the arc, it's not good," Knapp said. "We had better ball movement [in the second half]."

In a prime example, with the lead at just three with 2:15 to play, Popovici found Amy Donovan behind the zone on a backdoor cut for what Knapp called "one of the better plays I've seen in the Palestra in three and a half years."

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