Quakers bring pair to Palestra

After raising hopes by winning their first two games at the Army Tournament in West Point, the Quakers then lost games and believers by embarking on a six-game losing streak.

Tuesday night's impressive victory at Villanova, however gave Penn its first win in six games and the potential for a season turnaround.

With three wins in nine games, the Quakers own a disappointing .333 winning percentage, which has come as the result of a mix of blown opportunities, poor showings and tough opponents.

Despite all the clamoring about Penn's dropoff, the Quakers (3-6) current record is actually one and a half games better than it was at this juncture a year ago.

The Ivy League championship 2000-2001 season did not begin so magically.

The Red and Blue dropped a 61-52 decision to the same Villanova Wildcats in a Dec. 12 contest at the Palestra, leaving the Quakers searching for answers as they took a 1-5 mark into winter break.

For all the skepticism and doubt surrounding the Penn women's basketball team early this season, you'd think that the defending Ivy League champions sprinted out of the gate last year.

Instead, it took the Quakers until Dec. 28 to secure their second victory.

Veteran members of the team realize that a similar trend to open the season hardly guarantees the 21-game winning streak that last year's club enjoyed.

But it does show that a team sometimes needs time to grow.

"People don't realize that we started kind of slowly last year too, because we won the championship," Penn junior tri-captain Jennifer Jones said. "I still think we're definitely on the right track."

The six-foot guard added that many on the team have probably pondered the similarities to last season.

"We are not comparing this season to it, because we have different players," said Jones, referring to the five seniors who were replaced by a new crop of freshmen this fall. "But the pattern is kind of there."

Sophomore Jewel Clark -- the new focal point of the Penn offense --scored a career high 30 points and ripped down 17 rebounds on Tuesday at Villanova. The 5-foot-10 guard also hopes for as much of a repeat of last year as is possible.

"I'm looking at it that way," Clark said. "It's just taken a little while to come together as a team."

The Quakers will continue holding practices on a relatively normal schedule through Dec. 19, at which point the players are free to return home once they conclude their final exams.

Practice will resume on Dec. 26. Penn will then host Siena (5-2) in a Saturday matinee three days later and take on Princeton (4-3) at the Palestra in their Ivy opener on Jan. 4.

In its first matchup over the break, the Quakers will take on a surging Saints team that is currently riding a five-game winning streak.

Led by six-foot junior forward Gunta Basko(18.8 ppg, 11.3 rpg) -- last season's MAAC player of the year -- the Quakers will once again be facing a dominant front court player.

Shutting down a top frontliner has been one of Penn's weaknesses all season.

After Siena, Penn's Ivy rival, Princeton, comes to the Palestra to kick off the Ancient Eight season.

Having already earned twice as many wins than it did all of last year -- Princeton finished the 2000-2001 season, 2-25 -- the Tigers will look to pick up one more victory than they did in last season's 0-14 Ivy campaign.

With only one senior -- Lauren Rigney -- the Tigers run a balanced offensive attack, in which nearly all starters average double figures in scoring.

With two key games on the horizon, Penn hopes that its Villanova win on Tuesday gave the team a jump start on a path to success.

"I think [Tuesday] night's game was really important because we have this long break," Clark said. "Now we know what we need to do in order to win."

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