New England nightmare for Soriero's squad

The prospect of upsetting the top two teams in the Ivy League on their home floors was not daunting enough. Nor was the knowledge a loss in either game would cost the Quakers any chance at an NCAA tournament berth. The Penn women's basketball team had to make its weekend journey through New England really interesting and spot Dartmouth and Harvard double-digit leads as well. Incredibly, the Quakers were almost up to the challenge. They battled all the way back from an 18-point deficit Friday against the league-leading Big Green, only to see the dreams of an entire season slip away, 64-59, in the final moments. In a cruel twist of fate, Penn saw the agony replayed the next night in an 88-83 loss to Harvard. "It was pretty discouraging," senior guard Shelly Bowers said of the loss at Dartmouth. "From the tip, we were down big. We dug ourselves out of the hole, but it was too much." The Big Green (11-9, 7-1 Ivy League) ran off the first 10 points of the game and sprinted out to a 30-12 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half. But pushed to the edge of elimination, the Quakers (8-14, 5-5) gambled defensively with a halfcourt zone trap and began to gnaw away at the Dartmouth lead behind seniors Natasha Rezek and Katina Banks. Rezek and Banks combined to score 24 of Penn's next 34 points to give the Quakers their only lead of the game at 46-45. "Our defense really brought us back," Banks said. "Obviously, that's been our strength all season. We just haven't always played it consistently for a full 40 minutes. We went to a 1-2-1-1 zone trap, which allowed us to make some big plays and pick off a lot of passes. It was very successful for us in both games." In the end, there weren't enough miracles. Dartmouth rattled off the next eight points and turned the final three minutes into a free throw clinic. The Big Green was led by Jen Stamp's 18 points. Star forward Bari Porter added 11 points and 8 rebounds. Banks scored a career-high 24 points for Penn, including four treys, while Rezek finished with 16 points and 12 boards. "We couldn't turn the corner," Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "You come back from that many points down, and it's real hard to take that next step and build an eight- or 10-point lead. We just didn't have enough left." The Harvard game followed an eerily similar script, though against the Crimson (15-6, 7-2), the Quakers managed to postpone their defensive lapse until the second half. Nursing a 46-41 lead early in the final period, Harvard tallied 13 unanswered points during a three-and-a-half minute stretch, including six from star center Tammy Butler. This time, however, Soriero turned to her bench and seldom-used sophomore guard Patti Loyack to quell the Crimson tide. Loyack responded immediately with a three-pointer and a layup for five of her career-high nine points. "Patti came in and gave us exactly the spark we needed," Banks said. "She hit a huge three-pointer and made some big stops on the defensive end." Penn continued to chip away at the lead, mostly on the inside-outside combination of Rezek (career-high 23 points, 13 rebounds) and Bowers (19 points, 7 assists). A layup by senior reserve forward Shelly Dieterle capped the Quakers' comeback, giving them an 79-78 lead with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining. "It was just teamwork that brought us back," Loyack said. "We didn't let up, and we started to do the little things well. We played solid defense and hit some good shots. But defense was the key. Our defense leads to our offense." But for the second time in as many nights, it didn't lead them to victory. Harvard ripped off ten points in the final 1:54, including 4 of 5 from the charity stripe. Rezek had a chance to tie with 54 seconds remaining, but she could not connect on a free throw to complete a three-point play. With the losses, Penn has moved from a must-win to a no-win situation.

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