W. Hoops' guard shines

After Penn guard Erin Ladley had a stellar week to help lift the Penn women's basketball team (12-5, 4-0 Ivy) to equally stellar heights, she was awarded with the appropriate hardware. Monday, Ladley was named the Big Five Co-Player of the Week and the Ivy League Player of the Week for the period of January 29 to February 4, capping off a week that saw the Quakers soar to their 11th straight victory. Ladley's seven points in overtime at Yale Friday night helped Penn escape New Haven, Conn., with both its win streak and seat atop the Ivy standings intact. The Quakers battled back from an 11-point deficit in the first half against the Elis and fought to send the game into the extra session, in which Ladley's scoring explosion lifted Penn to a 92-80 victory. The following night, in Providence, R.I., against the Brown Bears, Ladley's late three-pointer pulled the Red and Blue within one point, and her jumper with 1:11 left on the clock tied the game for the Quakers. Penn went on to win, 77-72, to give Brown its first Ancient Eight defeat and keep Penn out of the loss column in the conference. Ladley ended up with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, which included one three and a perfect 7-for-7 record from the free-throw line. On the week, the Pittsfield, Mass., native averaged 21 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in wins over Yale and Brown. In 17 games this year, Ladley is averaging 32.5 minutes, 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. She is also shooting 26 percent from behind the arc. Ladley and the Quakers will put their perfect Ivy League record on the line this weekend when they host Harvard (7-11, 4-1 Ivy) Friday at 7 p.m., and Dartmouth (6-12, 2-3 Ivy) Saturday at 7 p.m. While the women's team will do battle with the Crimson and Big Green on the Palestra hardwood, the men's basketball team will be in Cambridge, Mass., and Hanover, N.H., to take on Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. Among the combatants will be Penn shooting guard Lamar Plummer, who was given an honorable mention in this week's Ivy League Player of the Week award competition. Plummer, who has been highly effective from behind the three-point line for the Quakers, notched 19 points in last Friday's 61-51 win over Yale and poured in 18 points in Penn's 59-50 triumph over Brown. Not including last night's game, Plummer has drilled 65 three-pointers and leads the Ivies in three-pointers made. He is on pace to score almost 105 three-pointers this season, which would make him the first player in Ivy League history -- in both men's and women's basketball -- to notch over 100 three-pointers in a season. Senior guards Plummer and Ladley will look to continue their dominant play in the Ivy League and carry the Quakers to an Ancient Eight title.

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