Caramanico named Ivy Player of the Year

Diana Caramanico became the second Quaker ever to win the Ivy's top award. Mandy West also made the All-Ivy first team. Anyone who watched the Penn women's basketball team in action this season could tell that the key to stopping this year's squad was as simple as stopping two individuals -- senior guard Mandy West and sophomore forward Diana Caramanico. But judging by the statistics, containing these two Quakers was not that simple. West and Caramanico combined for 1,110 points, 60.7 percent of Penn's total points this season. While their production did not earn the Quakers an Ivy League title, their individual achievements did not go unrecognized. Both players were named first-team All-Ivy and Caramanico became just the second player in Penn history to earn Ivy League Player of the Year. "Both Mandy and Diana's numbers really impressed me," outgoing Penn coach Julie Soriero said. "It wasn't a situation where we were beating teams by 20 points and we kept them in to boost their averages up. They scored those points in close games and against teams who were really keying in on them." Caramanico finished the season with averages of 22.7 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, setting numerous records in the process. The forward led the Ivy League in scoring and rebounding and ranked among the nation's best post players, climbing as high as second on the NCAA Division I rebounding list and seventh among scoring leaders at times this season. Caramanico broke the Penn record for rebounds in a season by grabbing 333, while her career-high 37 points against Brown marked the third-most points scored in a game by a player wearing the Red and Blue. Caramanico was also the 12th Quaker to reach the 1,000 point milestone and the first to do so as a sophomore. Caramanico's 1999 numbers were improvements over the stellar numbers -- 20.2 points and 10.0 rebounds -- that earned her Ivy Rookie of the Year last season. She will go down in Penn's history as the first player to be named both Rookie and Player of the Year. Despite her prolific scoring and success on the boards, Caramanico still seemed pleasantly surprised to receive the Ivy League's most prestigious award. "Usually the third-place team doesn't get the Player of the Year. I thought there were some strong candidates from Dartmouth and Princeton," she said. "I was talking to [Soriero] with about three weeks left in the season and she said that I was in the running but that a lot of things had to go our way and that it really depended on how the teams finished up. To be honest, if we hadn't beaten Princeton I don't think that it would have come my way." Kirsten Brendel, who won the award in '91, is the only other Quaker to win Player of the Year honors. "Kirsten was the same as Diana in terms of her learning curve and improvement curve," Soriero said. "I would place [Diana] in the same category with Kirsten. I think she will go down as one of the best in the league." Caramanico often had room to maneuver in the paint because opponents channeled their defensive pressure on Penn's best perimeter scorer, Mandy West. After spending a transfer year on the sidelines, the junior guard made an immediate contribution -- draining three pointers, slashing through defenders and hitting free throws with impressive accuracy. West's performances established her as one of the league's top scorers, twice earning her Ivy Player of the Week honors. "Mandy is one of the best guards I've seen in the Ivy League and definitely one of the best to play at Penn," Soriero said. "What puts her above other guards is her consistent shooting, her speed and her ball handling." By the end of the season, West's 20 points per game placed her 26th in the nation in scoring. Her 85 percent accuracy from the free throw line was the third-best ever by a Quaker and good for 15th among Division I players. "Mandy wanted the ball in close games. She wanted to go to the line," Soriero said. "To put up a free throw percentage in the 80s in close games is really impressive. She is just a competitor." Despite her status as a transfer student, West was chosen captain of the '98-99 Quakers, who recorded a 12-14 overall record and an 8-6 Ivy mark to place third in the league. According to sophomore guard Erin Ladley, West had no trouble assuming this leadership role. "She picked up where Colleen [Kelly] and Michelle [Maldonado] left off," Ladley said in reference to last year's senior captains. "She brought her competitiveness to the court and helped us. She fit in better and improved as the season progressed. And as she improved, we improved as a team." But according to Soriero, West made her presence known before she ever stepped on the court. "I think Mandy proved to people that she deserved to be captain during her first year when she sat out. She worked really hard and she never pouted about the fact that all she could do was practice. She was the epitome of a team player." While this year's third-place finish may have disappointed some Quakers fans, the good news is that both West and Caramanico will be back in uniform next season. "I want to win the Ivy League," Caramanico emphasized. "The personal awards are nice and all but I want a banner in the Palestra that says 'Women's Basketball Champions' and right now there are none up there."

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