An unrealized resolution: '08 sees W. Hoops drop tenth straight

Ten straight losses. Nine by double digits. And to cap it all off, a stumble out of the gate in the Ancient Eight. Any way you slice it, Penn women's basketball has seen brighter days. "It hurts, but we need to move on," said coach Pat Knapp after his team's 69-57 loss at Princeton on Saturday. "We can't be crying. We've got a lot of games to play." While the Princeton loss might have been the most significant of the winter break slate, it certainly wasn't the ugliest. Entering the vacation as losers of two straight, the Quakers were similarly overmatched in their first two stops on the post-semester schedule: In-city road games at Drexel and Temple. Penn shot just 32 percent over the two contests, losing by a combined 44 points to its intercity rivals. A trip to the Garden State did little to buck the trend for the Red and Blue. Competing in the St. Peter's Tournament in Jersey City, N.J., on Dec. 29 and 30, the Quakers dropped a 12-point decision to host school St. Peter's in the opening round, before allowing Eastern Kentucky to hit the century mark in a 38-point drubbing the following day. Penn committed a ghastly 54 turnovers in its two games. "No one likes to lose," said sophomore guard Caitlin Slover. "We have to cut down our turnovers, not only in games." After another disappointing showing, this one a 56-37 defeat at LaSalle on Jan. 7, Penn finally returned to the Palestra, hoping the homecoming might reinvigorate the beleaguered squad. The Quakers did sprint to a 7-0 lead over Lehigh in the game's opening minutes, inspiring some hope in the hearts of the Palestra faithful. The team received an immediate offensive boost with junior Kelly Scott's return to the starting lineup. Scott - who had missed the season's first 12 games with a foot injury, before coming off the bench at LaSalle - tallied 13 of her game-high 15 points in the opening frame. Ultimately, however, the visiting Mountain Hawks (9-7) caught, and then edged, the Red and Blue in the back-and-forth contest, prevailing 53-49. The Quakers entered the Ivy season eager to start anew. After all, a strong Ivy season would all but erase memories of a disastrous non-conference one, transforming those blowout defeats into lessons, not just losses. This anticipation made the result at Princeton - which had lost seven straight entering Saturday's showdown - all the more troubling. The Quakers remained in the game for much of the first half, playing Princeton to a draw over the first 15 minutes, but a late run to end the opening frame gave the Tigers a 30-23 halftime advantage they never relinquished. "I don't think we played well enough to pull out too much positives," said Knapp, who committed a technical foul early in the second half while disputing a blocking call. "We all came in believing we would win, and we just didn't execute our game plan well enough to do that," added Scott. Despite winning the bench-scoring battle 32-0, the Quakers were again plagued by turnovers and mediocre shooting. Their perimeter defense was also ineffective; Princeton shot 8-15 from beyond the arc. While Scott's return to the lineup has provided a much-needed offensive spark, Kim Franklin and Jerin Smith have both succumbed to apparent knee injuries. According to Knapp, the severity of the ailments is not yet known, with MRI results pending. After losing its tenth-straight last night to La Salle, the Red and Blue have 16 days before they kick off the brunt of their Ivy schedule, at Harvard. They will have plenty to practice, but they recognize that sheer force of will cannot elevate the team from its colossal funk. "We're giving everything that we have," said Slover. "It's just not turning into a W."