Shots won't fall for W. Hoops' starting five

After the Penn women's basketball team suffered its fifth consecutive loss last night at the hands of St. Joe's, the Quakers' lone senior and captain Julie Epton was not about to give the Hawks much credit for their 81-57 win.

Sure, the Hawks shot an impressive 49 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range.

Sure, the Hawks demonstrated a well-balanced offensive attack and amassed 26 assists.

Sure, the Hawks front court was virtually unstoppable and outscored the entire Quakers' offense, 64-57.

But Epton thought Penn should have been ready for this juggernaut.

"[Susan] Moran played really well, but we knew she's a baller and would come out here and play well and she still cut us up on the inside," Epton said.

"Our coaches prepared us well for this game, and we didn't step up to the plate."

She placed the brunt of the criticism on herself.

"I'm the senior, I'm a captain, I should be leading out there and I'm not," Epton said.

"I'm making a lot of mental mistakes on both ends. I'm making turnovers and it's not helping."

While Epton was a consistent force for the Quakers in Penn's first five games, she has struggled mightily in the last two.

On Saturday against George Mason, Epton scored a measly three points and missed all nine of her shots from the field.

And last night, she tallied just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Epton's frustration is a result of two more significant problems for the Quakers -- the inability to find the right line-up to start the game and the ineffectiveness of the upperclassmen.

Last night's debacle exposed these weaknesses even more than the previous losses.

Junior point guard Tara Twomey started, but did not score. The Quakers floor general had just one assist, while turning the ball over four times.

Junior Ima Abia started at the forward spot, but only played eleven minutes and scored two points. In the starting five because of her interior presence, Abia grabbed only two boards.

And junior tri-captain Jennifer Jones -- recently benched in favor of freshman standout Karen Habrukowich -- contributed a single bucket.

Meanwhile, Habrukowich has floundered since moving into the first five, after her 18-point performance against Stony Brook on Friday night.

As a starter, the shoot-first forward has knocked down just three of her twenty attempts in two games, clanking her way to a mere 10 points.

Even the Quakers' leading scorer, sophomore Jewel Clark, has been mired by inconsistent performances.

Last night, Clark shot just 3-of-12 and committed nine turnovers. Though she finished with 12 points, the bulk of these came when the game was well out of reach.

In perhaps the most telling stat of all, the Quakers bench outscored the starters 32-25 last night.

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