W. Hoops takes streak to Jadwin

The Penn women's basketball team will take their 13-game winning streak to Princeton tonight as they look to complete a midseason sweep of the Ivy League. Tonight's 7:30 p.m. game at Jadwin Gym marks the halfway point of the Quakers' Ivy League season. The Red and Blue (14-5, 6-0 Ivy League) played all of their non-league games earlier in the season, and now have only Ancient Eight games remaining on their schedule. A win against Princeton tonight would mark Penn's 14th consecutive victory and seventh over their Ivy League rivals. Princeton (1-18, 1-5) will need to utilize its homecourt advantage tonight, as not much else looks to be in its favor. The Tigers possess the second-worst record in the Ivies and will be hard-pressed to present a credible challenge to the undefeated Quakers. The Princeton contest, more than anything else for the Red and Blue, will be a milestone for this season. The Quakers are marching steadily toward the Ivy League title, and a midseason sweep of the league will essentially make the championship theirs to lose. However, the same thing could probably have been said about Penn last year. The Quakers went 6-0 last season before losing to Dartmouth in their seventh game. The Dartmouth loss was a turning point, after which Penn sputtered, turning in a 3-4 record for their remaining Ivy League games. This year's team, though, has apparently learned from that experience. The Red and Blue have refused to be dismissive of any teams they play or to show signs of overconfidence. The Quakers have been focused and prepared for all of their games, regardless of their opponent's reputation. Penn has shown it has both the mental and physical astuteness to continue its unrelenting drive for the Ivy crown. The Quakers' ultimate test will be whether they can maintain their mental edge when the pressure builds toward the end of the season. Although Penn has yet to secure a win against Princeton to complete its sweep, the real test of the Red and Blue's resolve will be when they face teams like Dartmouth and Harvard again and on the road, where the stakes will be higher and there will be no room for mistakes. However, if this early season is any indication, none of these thoughts will be passing through the Quakers' heads as they take the court tonight. Instead, there will be only one collective desire -- beating Princeton.

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