W.Hoops a Thanksgiving turkey

By ARI SEIFTER

Staff Writer

aseifter@dailypennsylvanian.com

The Penn women's basketball team has at least been consistent in one aspect of its play this season: its inconsistency.

Looking for their first win of the season on Friday at Mount Saint Mary's, the Quakers held a 30-26 lead after outplaying the Mountaineers in the first half.

But Penn's play regressed after the break, allowing Mount St. Mary's to mount a comeback and pull away to a 65-53 victory.

"We just didn't expect the tempo to change like it did," sophomore forward Jerin Smith said. "They knew they were down on their home court, and they just brought it to us."

The Quakers (0-5) coughed up 12 second half turnovers - and 22 overall - which led to 19 points for the Mountaineers (3-1).

"They threw a little trap at us, we got rattled," Penn coach Pat Knapp said. "They switched a little bit; we didn't recognize it. We just threw the ball away."

Though Penn has battled turnover problems all season, junior guard Sarah Bucar said the Mountaineers' press should not have had such a profound effect.

"We just have to be a bit available to each other, and move for the ball, and cut," Bucar said. "We were moving well at points, and if we were able to keep that up the whole game, it would have been a different outcome."

Bucar and senior forward Carrie Biemer accounted for 29 of Penn's 53 field goal attempts and 26 of its 53 points. But the duo could not overcome the efforts of Mountaineers guards Hassanah Oliver and Brianna Gauthier, who combined for 37 points.

Knapp took responsibility for the Quakers' loose defense on Oliver, allowing her to penetrate the key with ease. After holding the Mountaineers to 34.4 percent shooting in the first half, Penn gave up a blistering 53.6 percent shooting in the second half.

"They had a lot more penetration and kickouts, and we sort of fell asleep on their shooters," Bucar said. "I don't think that it was anything that they did in particular. I think that it was more our fault that we didn't get out on them."

The Quakers continued to improve their rebounding, an impressive turnaround for a small lineup that had surrendered 42 offensive rebounds in their first three games.

On Friday, Penn brought down 14 offensive boards of their own, and outrebounded Mount St. Mary's 39-32.

"We're not a big team, so if we're going to win games, we're going to have to rebound," Bucar said. "If the rebounding is there, the game's always going to be closer."

Despite seeing some positive signs, the winless Quakers learned that almost doesn't count.

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