Quakers cruise past Dartmouth at Palestra

Penn - 76 Dartmouth - 64

Friday night epitomized what the Penn women's basketball team feels it should have accomplished all season.

Dominant at times, but consistently in control throughout, the Quakers (4-9, 1-2 Ivy League) defeated Dartmouth (4-9, 1-2) at the Palestra, 76-64.

Penn sophomore guard Jewel Clark, who shot 9-for-15 from the field and led all scorers with 24 points, believes that her performance against the Big Green is what she should expect of herself every time out.

"This is something that I actually should have been doing," Clark said.

The Quakers called their victory against the Big Green their best all-around effort of the season, and it was clear from the start that they had brought their top game.

Penn, which had been plagued by a lack of intensity in many of its games, looked like a different team early on.

The Red and Blue jumped out to a 12-0 start, with Clark responsible for the first seven points and freshman guard Karen Habrukowich scoring the next five.

Clark, in the early going, intermittently had more points than the entire Dartmouth team until roughly the midway point of the first half.

"The key to our start was just running," she said. "As long as you push the ball up the floor, you know you're going to get something from it."

Penn continued its torrid shooting until it took a comfortable 48-30 lead into halftime. In the opening period, Penn shot 52 percent from the floor and connected on 10 of its 11 attempts from the foul line.

The Quakers' zone defense also hindered Dartmouth in the first half. The Big Green frequently looked unsure of themselves on the offensive side of the ball.

"I don't think they were ready for us to play zone, and we went in saying we're playing zone for the whole game," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said.

At halftime, Greenberg hoped to keep her players' focused by reciting her usual locker room mantra.

A Dartmouth run in the second half seemed inevitable, but the coaches wanted to emphasize the importance of bringing the same energy level to the court for the final 20 minutes.

"I always tell them that's why God makes two halves," Greenberg said with a laugh. "I tell them that at halftime because even though we won the first half, that doesn't mean anything sometimes."

In this case, however, Penn's huge first half margin did make the difference.

Dartmouth slowly chipped away at the lead until finally getting to within six points of the Quakers, at 63-57 with 6:44 remaining.

And then freshman center Katie Kilker took over.

After Dartmouth had knocked the Red and Blue lead to six, it was Kilker who responded with consecutive scores down low, giving Penn some breathing room by widening the lead to 67-57.

"Katie's a great post player. When we get it down there, she finishes," Penn senior captain Julie Epton said. "She pulls down lots of boards, and she got a couple of baskets that we really needed."

A few minutes later, the Big Green would run out of gas -- their comeback hopes thwarted when leading scorer Katharine Hanks fouled out.

"The second half seemed so long, but we pulled through," Penn junior captain Tara Twomey said. "It was the first half that won the game, though."

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