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(02/15/01 10:00am)
History doesn't lie.
The banners are there to prove it.
Walk into the Palestra and you'll see for yourself -- an abundance of banners glorifying the Penn men's basketball team.
20 Ivy titles, two trips to the NCAAregional finals, one final four appearance.
It's all there.
But there's an empty spot in the southwest corner, devoid of glory and prestige.
For all of the men's accomplishments, the women's basketball team has never won an Ivy League championship. They are nowhere to be found on the ceiling of college basketball's most historic gym.
But in this 2000-2001 season, it seems that the times are changing.
The men's team is still searching for itself with just three weeks left in the season, while the women are on target for their first-ever Ancient Eight crown.
There's a new top team at the Palestra.
Watching the men's game the night before last was an excruciating experience.
It was a lifeless performance by the Quakers. They allowed their Ivy nemesis to walk into their house and wipe the floor with them.
Six points in the first 16 minutes, fouling while down 15 with under a minute left, hearing thePalestra faithful chant for garbage time during a good portion of the second half.
It was a joke.
Penn coach Fran Dunphy still says that his team is "still not exactly sure of who we are."
Well, the search has certainly been going on for a while.
And I've got news for you. Any team that doesn't know who they are in February is not going dancing in March.
It's that simple.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact problem of the men's basketball team, because, to be quite frank, there are so many.
Turnovers, missed free throws, inconsistency...the list goes on and on.
The Red and Blue still have a chance to turn things around and recapture the luster that has followed them the last two seasons.
But first they have to start playing some good basketball.
And with just seven games left, they have to start doing it in a hurry.
On the other side of the court, though, the women's team is doing something special.
With each victory, the Quakers are moving further and further into the record books.
Fourteen straight wins -- a program-record.
A 7-0 Ivy start -- a program-record.
The Quakers haven't lost in over two months and are rewriting history with each passing game.
(Well, the men's team is also creating history. Six points in 16 minutes might be some kind of record. Forgive me if I don't have the stomach to look it up.)
The women's team is now halfway home. The lady Quakers have beaten every Ivy team -- five of which have come on the road -- and are in prime position to win the conference.
The Red and Blue are two games up on their nearest foe with just seven games remaining.
I think it's just about time to start reserving a tournament ticket. These girls are going to the Big Dance.
The differences between the men's and women's teams are endless.
For instance, the women's team has what every great team needs -- a superstar.
The Quakers boast All-Ivy, All-Big 5 and potentially all-American forward Diana Caramanico.
The senior captain is currently in the top 10 in the nation in both scoring and rebounding, and has terrorized her Ivy opposition.
The men's team, on the other hand, lacks a player who can take over the game.
Down the stretch last season, the Quakers could always count on star guard Michael Jordan to pull them out of a sticky situation.
To an extent, seniors Geoff Owens and Lamar Plummer have filled that role this season.
But Owens has disappeared for many games, failing to be the dominating inside force that the 6'11' center could be.
And while Plummer has been a pleasant surprise after last season's leave of absence, he has been as streaky as John Starks. The guard's 2-of-12 (0-for-6 from three-point range) performance against Princeton helped doom the Quakers.
And after a tremendous freshman campaign, sophomore Ugonna Onyekwe has vanished from the limelight.
The women's team, on the other hand, features a balanced starting lineup led by Caramanico and senior guard Erin Ladley, a first-class sixth man in Ivy League rookie of the year candidate Jewel Clark, and a superb second-year coach in Kelly Greenberg.
For the Penn women's basketball team, the pieces to the puzzle are all there.
Yes, there certainly is a new top team at the Palestra.
And the banner will soon prove it.
(02/12/01 10:00am)
HANOVER, N.H. -- Going into last weekend, Harvard's Dan Clemente and Dartmouth's Greg Buth had never defeated the Penn men's basketball team.
They had gone through three years of hardship and had suffered six consecutive losses at the hands of the Red and Blue.
But with this flawed 2000-2001 Quakers team coming to their home courts this weekend, the two senior standouts knew that this would be their best chance to finally topple mighty Penn.
Only one was able to succeed.
Clemente wouldn't have it any other way.
Behind a raucous, sold-out Lavietes Pavilion crowd, Harvard's senior captain carried his team to a shocking 77-62 victory over the Red and Blue, Penn's first conference loss in exactly two years.
But for Clemente, the win was all about redemption.
Last year, the 6'6" forward had a chance to pull off a monster upset over the Quakers, but his last-second three-pointer rimmed out as Penn escaped with a 62-61 road victory en route to a perfect 14-0 Ancient Eight record.
This year, Clemente dashed Penn's hopes of another perfect season, while cracking the Quakers' 25-game conference winning streak, the longest in the nation.
"I had memories of that thing all summer," Clemente said of last year's near-miss. "And people always bring it up. It kills me. It feels real great to get the win just because of that."
From the opening tip, Clemente looked like a man possessed. In the first half, he poured in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a seven-minute stretch in which he drained two threes and three long jumpers.
Clemente finished with 29 points, just three off his career high.
The next night, Dartmouth senior Buth looked for similar success against the Red and Blue.
And for 20 minutes, it looked as if the Big Green guard might just pull it off.
Buth nailed 3-of-5 from downtown and scored 13 points as Dartmouth went into the locker room with a 32-27 lead. On the other side of the court, Lamar Plummer -- Buth's shooting guard counterpart -- connected on just 1-of-3 from behind the arc, giving him three points for the half.
But the tides turned in the next 20 minutes of basketball.
Plummer ended up outscoring Buth, 21-20, while Penn was able to best Dartmouth, 75-62, and escape New England with a weekend split.
The difference came in a key defensive change made by Penn coach Fran Dunphy during the break.
"We made the decision to switch [forward] Koko [Archibong] to Greg Buth, which statistically seemed like it helped us," Dunphy said. "Just his size seemed to bother Greg a little bit."
Buth obviously felt the presence of Archibong's size and defensive prowess. The senior sharpshooter added just seven points in the second half, while making just 1-of-5 from three-point range.
At the same time, Plummer made an adjustment of his own. The Dartmouth defense took away his forte, the three-point ball, so Penn's senior guard had to put the ball on the floor and create.
"Teams are looking at him and saying, 'We're not going to allow him to get as many good looks,' and they're setting their defenses that way," Dunphy said. "Now you have to find other ways to help your team, so he found that with his drives to the basket, he found that with stepping up to the foul line which helped us a great deal."
Plummer's game-high 21 points included a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
On a weekend where two senior shooters looked to help their teams pull off the upset over Penn, it was another senior shooter who found a way to keep his team in control of the Ivy League with a strong second-half performance on Saturday.
(02/06/01 10:00am)
Angela Konstantaras and Kelli Toland never thought they would have this chance.
With their days at Penn dwindling to a close and their collegiate playing days over, these two senior soccer standouts have been given the opportunity to continue playing the sport they love.
Toland and Konstantaras, along with 2000 Penn graduates Jill and Andrea Callaghan, are among 18 women invited to try out for the Philadelphia Charge of the newly established Women's United Soccer Association at a free agent camp this week in East Petersburg, Pa.
The Charge are one of eight teams in the WUSA, which will kick off its inaugural season later this spring.
The Charge are permitted to invite 28 players to their preseason camp, which will begin in several weeks. After an allocation of players from the U.S. national team and two drafts of collegiate and international players, Philadelphia already has 24 women on its roster. The team must cut the roster to 20 by the start of the season on April 22.
"It's just playing soccer," Toland said. "It's a tryout, but we're just going to play soccer."
During their time with the Red and Blue, Konstantaras, Toland and the Callaghan sisters have excelled on the soccer field, leading the women's program to the most successful years in its short history.
In 1999, Penn advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the elevation of the program to varsity status in 1991. The Quakers also captured ECAC Tournament championships in 1998 and 2000.
Andrea Callaghan graduated in May as Penn's all-time leading scorer with 68 points. Toland moved into second place on that list this past season, leaving Rhodes Field with 60 career points. Jill Callaghan is third in Penn history with 59.
This fall, Toland earned second team All-Ivy honors despite being hampered by an ankle injury throughout the season. She has only recently been given the OK to play again.
"I was just cleared to run two weeks ago," Toland said, who led the Ivy League in scoring as a junior and earned All-Ivy honors in each of her four years. "I just did sprints for the first time in three months. I haven't tackled anyone or had any contact, so it'll be interesting to see how that works out."
This week's free agent camp, which includes players from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, will begin this morning at the LANCO Fieldhouse. Morning and afternoon sessions will be held today and tomorrow, and the camp will conclude with a morning session on Thursday.
If Konstantaras and Toland are selected by the Charge, they will have to withdraw from school and complete their degrees in the fall, a decision that will be difficult for both of them.
"I would really have to think about it," Toland said. "My parents just finished paying tuition. I don't know, with two months left, if I could withdraw and give up the opportunity to be with my friends."
"It's one of those things where you don't want to cross that bridge until you have to," added Konstantaras, who was named honorable mention All-Ivy this season and was considered one of the best one-on-one players in the Ivies.
For now, Penn's two senior midfielders are just grateful for the opportunity to possibly continue their playing careers as professionals.
Competing against superstars like Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Brianna Scurry is something which these former Quakers would cherish.
"To think they'd be your teammates -- it's kind of surreal," Konstantaras said.
When the WUSA was founded, each of the league's eight franchises -- the Atlanta Beat, Bay Area CyberRays, Boston Breakers, Carolina Courage, New York Power, Philadelphia Charge, San Diego Spirit and Washington Freedom -- was allocated several players from the World Cup champions.
After a 15-round draft in the fall, each team picked up four more players at a tryout camp and draft in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this past weekend.
Toland, Konstantaras and the Callaghans did not even know they might have the chance to participate in the WUSA's first season until they received an e-mail inviting them to the free agent camp several weeks ago.
"All we were given was an itinerary and hearsay," Konstantaras said. "We just have to go into it and work as much as we can and do what they tell you."
That chance to play for the Charge would be a great honor, especially for Toland, who has spent her entire life in Philadelphia.
"It would be a blast," she said. "I've gotten phone calls from people who just randomly found out and they're like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to come watch you.'"
"I've grown up here. I'm still tight with all my friends from home. It would be crazy. My whole family's in the Philadelphia area, so it would be amazing."
For Konstantaras, who grew up across the country in Pleasant Hill, Calif., the chance to play professionally is just as exciting.
"For me, [soccer] has been one of those things that I could always look forward to," she said. "It will always be there. It's always been there.
"It's something that I just don't think I can let go of yet."
(12/13/00 10:00am)
Going into Tuesday night's game at the Palestra, history did not bode well for the Penn women's basketball team. The Quakers, who were hosting Villanova in their final Big 5 contest of the season, had dropped 25 straight games to the Wildcats. The Red and Blue had also never before won two Big 5 games in a single season, a feat that they could have accomplished had they toppled Villanova on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (5-3, 3-1 Big 5), however, made sure that tradition would not be broken as they defeated the Quakers (1-4, 1-3 Big 5), 61-52, ending Penn's Big 5 schedule on a sour note. "They wanted it more than us down the stretch and they made the big plays to do it," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said following the loss. The Wildcats were sparked by a 10-0 run late in the second half. After Penn guard Erin Ladley sunk one of two free throws to give the Quakers a 39-38 lead with 7:36 left in the contest, Villanova center Brandi Barnes took control of the game.
The 6'3'' inside force converted on three straight easy layups in between a made free throw to give her seven of her team-high 20 points in just a little over two minutes. "She's a really big girl," said Penn forward Julie Epton, who chipped in nine points on 3-of-5 shooting. "We need to do a better job of keeping our feet moving on defense."
When Villanova guard Trish Juhline sunk a three from the corner at the 4:09 mark to cap off the Wildcats 10-0 run and give them a 48-39 lead, the game was all but over.
At the three-minute mark, Penn cut the lead to six, but that was the closest the Quakers would ever get as Villanova knocked down 13-of-18 foul shots in the final 2:30 to secure the victory. Once again, turnovers were the story for the Quakers. After a 27-turnover outing against Temple on Saturday, Penn was again extremely sloppy with the ball.
The Quakers committed 16 turnovers on the night, including one stretch in which they turned the ball over on five straight possessions. "We need to take care of the ball more," said freshman guard Jewel Clark, who gave the rock away three times, but contributed a team-high twelve rebounds. "One turnover is too many turnovers." Frustrated by Penn's lack of poise on the offensive end, Greenberg felt that the Quakers could have came out on top if they just held onto the ball.
"They weren't forced. It wasn't like Villanova came up in our face and made us [turn it over]," Greenberg said. "I thought the game was ours.They shot 3-of-20 from three-point range. You make Villanova do that, you should win the game -- we did everything we could to put ourselves in a position to win."
In the first half, both teams went pretty much basket-for-basket After Penn took an early 14-12 lead just less than eight minutes into the game, Villanova guard Mimi Riley nailed a three pointer in between two nice penetration moves to score seven of her nine points, all coming in the first half.
After a basket by Villanova forward Courtney Mix pushed the 'Nova lead to seven, the Quakers went on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 25, capped off by a key three-pointer from Penn star forward Diana Caramanico. Penn went into the locker room down just three, very much within striking distance.
The second half was a seesaw battle through the first 13 minutes with neither team able to push their lead beyond three until Barnes began to dominate inside.
Neither Penn or Villanova shot the lights out on the night. The Quakers' 38.9 field goal percentage was slightly better than the 33.3 percent mark posted by the Wildcats.
With such a poor shooting performance from the opposition, the Quakers expected to win the game. They blamed themselves, rather than the pesky Villanova defense for the exasperating defeat. "I think we beat ourselves," Epton said. "I don't think it was their defense that got us out of it."
"I think we just made a lot of small mistakes and made their defense look better than it is," said Penn sophomore guard Jennifer Jones, who contributed six points in 16 minutes. The Quakers will now have some time off to work out the kinks in their offense and prepare for the rest of their schedule. "We have 16 days," Epton said. "We have that much time to get better."
(09/21/00 9:00am)
Going into yesterday's game at Stony Brook, the Penn women's soccer team found itself in an unfamiliar situation.
After a 1999 season that saw the Quakers stand near the top of the Ivy League and advance to their first-ever NCAA Tournament, expectations ran high for the 2000 version of the Red and Blue.
However, after a tough loss to archrival and Ivy League powerhouse Harvard this past weekend, Penn dropped to 2-2 and found itself looking up in the Ancient Eight standings.
A loss to Stony Brook would have sent the Quakers tumbling under .500 heading into the thick of their Ivy League schedule.
But the Red and Blue showed why they are a premier soccer team, proving their resilience in a 3-0 trouncing of the Seawolves yesterday on Long Island.
"It's good to get a win after a tough loss," sophomore forward Heidi Nichols said. "It got our morale up going into a crucial game this weekend."
The win over Stony Brook yesterday marked the Quakers' second shutout of the season and another outstanding defensive performance.
"We once again defended superbly," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "I'm really pleased with how we are defending in the midfield and in the back."
Anchoring the defense was freshman goalkeeper Vanessa Scotto, who got the starting nod over sophomore Katherine Hunt after Hunt gave up two goals and took the loss against the Crimson on Saturday.
Scotto turned in a strong performance, pulling in three saves and notching her second shutout of the season.
Also playing well and leading Penn's defense were central defenders junior Sarah Campbell and senior Ashley Kjar.
"They [Campbell and Kjar] did a fantastic job of holding us together and a very good job of reading what the other team was doing," Ambrose said.
But while the Quakers defense was strong, their offense had a bit of trouble finishing scoring opportunities and beating the Seawolves' pesky off-sides trap.
Nevertheless, Penn found the back of the net on three occasions, which was more than enough support for the Red and Blue backfield.
Junior forward Sabrina Fenton got the Quakers on the board in the 15th minute. Fenton received the ball from senior co-captain Kelli Toland on a through-ball that broke the off-sides trap before beating Stony Brook goalkeeper Renee Pelletier.
With two minutes remaining in the half, freshman forward Ayla Gustafson fired a shot under Pelletier and into the goal to put the Quakers up 2-0 heading into halftime.
In the beginning of the second half, Penn created a bevy of scoring chances in an excellent 25- minute spurt.
And early in the second half, Nichols gave the Quakers their third and final goal of the contest on what Ambrose called "a great individual effort." After receiving a header from freshman midfielder Heather Issing, the sophomore forward used her body to shield off pressure before scoring her second goal of the season.
Nichols, out for three weeks with a sprained ankle earlier in the season, has returned as a force for the Quakers.
"She's coming back and making a difference every time she steps on the field," Ambrose said.
"I'm feeling good now," Nichols added. "It was frustrating in the beginning, but now I'm excited to be a part of the team again."
The victory over Stony Brook yesterday should be a momentum booster for the Quakers as they head into their second Ivy League contest this weekend.
"The win was really important because it keeps everyone positive going into Cornell," Kjar said.
