W. Hoops to hit the hardwood Friday

The Penn women's basketball team has not played an official game since its season-opening loss at the hands of St. Joseph's. But that doesn't mean the Quakers haven't been busy. Penn defeated the National Women's Basketball League Elite team, 79-71, in an exhibition on Sunday. The Quakers dominated the game, building up a 40-29 lead at halftime. Senior forward Diana Caramanico netted an impressive 31 points while promising freshman guard Jewel Clark was second in scoring with nine points. The NWBL Elite team is composed mainly of former NCAA players. * Clark, a native of Waldorf, Md., is off to a flying start with the Quakers. She was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for her 21-point debut against the Hawks. Clark scored 17 points in the second half at St. Joseph's, helping to lead the Red and Blue to its most solid effort against St. Joe's in years. Penn lost by just six points in the season opener, a far better result than the double-digit losses the Quakers have traditionally suffered against the Hawks. Honors are nothing new to Clark, though. She was named first team All-State as a high school senior, and was Most Valuable Player in the Maryland vs. Pennsylvania high school all-star game her senior year. * With 20 points against St. Joe's, Caramanico broke the school record for all-time career scoring in both men's and women's basketball. Caramanico's 20-point performance against the Hawks brought her career scoring total to 1,828, passing Ernie Beck's mark of 1,827. "I knew he was a great player and it's an honor to be put in the same sentence as him," Caramanico said. The senior from Blue Bell, Pa., has been a force for the Quakers, averaging 24.8 points per game and 11.9 rebounds last season on the way to honors as both the Ivy League and the Big 5 Player of the Year. She accepted an invitation last summer to the USA women's basketball training camp. Caramanico was the only Ivy League player invited. She became the all-time leading women's scorer in a game last season at Cornell, passing Kirsten Brendel. * Penn will travel to Evanston, Ill., this weekend for the Northwestern University Tournament. The Quakers will play Northwestern on Friday, and either Northeastern or UNLV on Saturday. The Red and Blue had five weeks of practice before playing their opener, and will have had two weeks between games when they face the Wildcats on Friday. But there will be no such break between Penn's second and third games of the season as the Quakers play on back-to-back days. But it probably won't affect the Red and Blue too much. "That's life in the Ivy League," Caramanico said. "That's what we do, is play back to back. I guess going back to back in the beginning of the season is different, but the returning players are up to it, and the freshmen will get a little preview." The Quakers will return home on December 7. They will be the first team to take the court at the renovated Palestra when they play host to La Salle in the front end of a twin bill with the Penn men's team. "That's gonna be great, opening night first game of a doubleheader," Caramanico said. "A Big 5 doubleheader, it's gonna be a really good night to open up at home with." * When those two sets of La Salle teams come calling, the coaching lines at the Palestra will have a distinctively Olney Avenue flavor. Both Penn coaches, Fran Dunphy and Kelly Greenberg, attended La Salle. And Greenberg played under both of the Explorers' coaches during her career. When Greenberg arrived at La Salle, Speedy Morris, the current men's coach, was the women's coach. For the past 15 years, John Miller has been the man at the helm of the La Salle women's squad.

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