Without much firepower on offense, there's a surefire way to tell whether the Penn women's basketball team will win or lose.
When the Quakers allow their opponents to score at least 50 points in a game, they have a woeful 2-14 record. Going into this weekend's home games against Brown and Yale, the team had held opponents to less than 50 points in a game only three times.
But the Quakers' defense showed up this weekend, as their two opponents shot a combined 32-for-111 (28.8 percent). The Red and Blue converted that defensive effort into a pair of victories, 66-49 and 62-46 against Brown and Yale, respectively, to push their winning streak to a season-high three games.
Senior captain Carrie Biemer single-handedly outscored the Bears, 17-16, in the first half and finished with 28 points on 11-for-16 shooting. Despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble, she tacked on another 17 against Yale (10-12, 3-5 Ivy), which places her only five points away from a milestone 1,000 career points.
"I've kind of been forced to think about it now that everyone I've talked to has mentioned it," Biemer said of the upcoming feat. "I'd rather just concentrate on winning."
Early on against Brown (3-18, 1-7), Biemer was fed consistently in the post. When the Bears adjusted, she moved outside for several consecutive three-pointers before going back inside in the second half.
"The nice thing about our four-out, one-in offense is that I start out post, and then I get a double-down screen," Biemer said. "So if that double-down is wide open, then I get free, and if not, then I just go right back into the post. So it kind of plays to my strengths."
However, coach Pat Knapp said Penn was "weak with the ball," leading to 15 turnovers against the Bears' full-court pressure and an even worse 21 against the Bulldogs.
The team's focus heading into the weekend was rebounding, but despite the wins, Penn had mixed results in that area.
Although the Quakers (6-15, 3-4) won the total battle of the boards by a combined 76-61, the Bears brought down what Knapp called a "horrible" 17 offensive rebounds - including 13 after the break - while Yale had 13 Saturday. Of course, those totals were inflated due to the numerous missed field goals.
"When you're missing a lot of layups, as [the Bears] missed a handful, the ball tends to come right back to you," sophomore guard Erin Power said.
Even when Penn boxed out effectively and had good position, it seemed that Brown got away with several over-the-back fouls.
"I felt a little frustrated at times about that," Biemer said. "But when you're up by 15, you've got to pick your battles with what you address with the refs."
Although Knapp refused to explicitly comment on the officiating - "Reporters are always trying to get coaches to break league rules" - he felt that missed over-the-back calls have occurred at other times during the year as well.
Power - who at six-foot-one has a distinct height advantage over most guards - has led the team in rebounding in each of the last four games and has registered at least 11 boards in each of the last three.
As usual, her offensive contribution was highlighted by a team-high five assists in both games, but she also made 12 free throws on a weekend in which Penn shot 37-for-46 from the charity stripe.
"I don't know if there's another guard in the country getting as many rebounds," Knapp said. "That's the reason why she's fouled . So as they say in jolly old England, 'Bully for her.'"
The Quakers felt their defensive effort was overall fairly strong, although they allowed Yale guards Melissa Colborne and Jamie Van Horne to score a total of 31 points on a combined 8-for-14 shooting from beyond the arc.
"We wanted to get in [Van Horne's] gut and chase her," junior guard Sarah Bucar said. But "she has the quickest release I've seen in a while."
After struggling to finish off opponents earlier in the season, the Quakers pulled away late in the second half in both games this weekend.
"In practice we spent a lot of time working on end-of-game situations and improving our composure," Power said. "Our leaders have stepped up so much at the end of games, and it seems to be working for us."
Staff writer Jennifer Scuteri contributed reporting to this article.
