Penn's sophomores have had a tough time establishing themselves this season. Forwards Andreas Schreiber and Justin Reilly have looked very good at some times, while at others they seem to be lost. And let's not forget about Darren Smith, who broke his kneecap in the season opener versus Drexel.

Though officially part of the Centennial Conference, the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats (4-3) have been the unofficial doormat of the Ivy League this year. After opening the season with four wins over non-Ivy opponents, the Diplomats enter tonight's match at Penn (1-3, 1-2 Ivy) having lost their last three matches to Dartmouth, Yale and Princeton by a combined score of 25-2.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Penn counterpart Glen Miller met at halfcourt just minutes before last night's game. The two shared an extended handshake on the sideline, exchanged jovial words and then bolted for their respective benches. That was as close as Penn would come to the Tar Heels all game.

Feisty terriers nibble away at Crimson BOSTON (AP) - Corey Lowe had 23 points to help Boston University snap a six-game losing streak with a 79-72 victory over Harvard last night. The Terriers have won 14 of the last 15 games in the series, with BU coach Dennis Wolff 13-1 against the Crimson.

The Quakers' standard response to the obligatory how-does-it-feel-to-play-a-top-ranked-team question had been taken as gospel: they would make a conscious effort not to think about how good the Tar Heels were. Seemed simple enough. But the verdict is in, by a 106-71 majority, on how well that worked out.

There's no place to go but up. After an embarrassing 66-26 loss to Villanova on Saturday, the women's basketball team is looking to rebound when it hosts the Lafayette Leopards (5-3) at the Palestra tonight. "We're anxious to show that we're not the team that we were against Villanova," junior Anca Popovici said.

Glen Miller's Quakers have always tried to play faster than their opponents, but against North Carolina, it was Penn who seemed to have its feet stuck in the tar. Every time Penn got a big basket, the Tar Heels were bolting down the court for a quick answer.

Wayne Ellington needs no introduction. In his second season, the North Carolina shooting guard has emerged as one of the best players in the country and will almost certainly suit up for an NBA team in the future. And while Ellington has started to become a household name, tonight will mark his return to the very stage on which he introduced himself to the nation: the Palestra.

Some coaches use an embarrassing loss as a motivator for a downtrodden squad. Other coaches scrutinize every last detail of the debacle on videotape to help discourage a repeat performance. Then there's selective amnesia. Following a thumping 66-26 defeat at Villanova on Saturday, Penn women's basketball seems to be leaning toward the latter option: removing the blowout from its mental filing system altogether.

Seniors Brian Grandieri and Michael Kach turn free-throw shooting into a friendly competition. In their spare time, the two roommates use the hoop behind their house; at practice, whoever plays worse buys the other dinner. If game performance is any indication, Kach has been enjoying a lot of free meals this year.

No NBA team has ever graced the Palestra floor. But tonight, the ancient arena might be seeing the next best thing. No. 1 North Carolina has three likely NBA first-rounders in its starting lineup and one of the most legendary figures in college basketball history at the helm.

The Penn wrestling team had hoped for success in the desert, but it came home with a valuable lesson instead of hardware. The No. 22 Quakers placed two wrestlers at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational en route to a 14th-place finish after taking third at the event last year.

VILLANOVA, Pa., Dec. 1 - Well, it's been worse. Against Villanova on Saturday, the Penn women's basketball team scored 26 points, the third-lowest output in team history. In a game that will take a place in the record books, the Quakers were handed a 66-26 loss by the sharp-shooting Wildcats (6-1).

The women's squash team was nothing short of dominant this weekend against two of its Ivy League foes. But according to Penn, there is still room for improvement and much more work is needed. On Saturday, the Quakers took on Yale, winning 7-2. And in the encore, they came back yesterday to face the Bears and were a perfect 9-0 for the day.

Squash is thought of as a gentleman's game, associated with while polo shirts and Northeastern prep schools. But there was very little gentlemanly behavior on display when Penn split a weekend doubleheader at Ringe Courts yesterday. Ed Cerullo, playing as Brown's No.

First place in the triple jump just wasn't enough at the Bucknell Invite on Saturday. Penn athletes swept the event, taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. Junior Camille Richard won the event with a jump of 11.71 meters. Although the effort was not a personal best, Richard was pleased with the result.

The men's swim team is supposed to peak twice in the season, according to coach Mike Schnur. The first of those two peaks came this weekend at the Nike Invitational, where the Quakers took second place behind host Kenyon, the favorite. The 400 free relay team of Devon Carr, Pat Gallagher, Chris Buckand Kyle Loughran took first and set both a Penn and Kenyon pool record.