Error-prone W.Hoops to face Ivy pair

The Penn women's basketball team can honestly say to the 11 teams that have defeated the Quakers so far this season, 'It's not you, it's me.'

In their 79-58 loss to Delaware last Tuesday, the Quakers committed 29 turnovers. It was the fifth time this season that Penn had coughed up the ball at least 20 times in a game.

That's why, in the last couple of days in practice, the Quakers have been going back to working on the fundamentals.

"We haven't been focusing on anything special," Penn junior forward Jenn Jones said. "We're just working on the basics -- running our offense, playing better defense and taking care of the ball."

The Red and Blue hope that formula will equal success in New York, as the Quakers take on Cornell and Columbia in an Ancient Eight weekend doubleheader.

The Quakers (5-11, 1-2 Ivy League) will face the Big Red (9-8, 3-1) tonight at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y., and take on the Lions (8-8, 2-2) tomorrow night at Levien Gymnasium in the Big Apple.

Cornell will be relying on the experience and leadership of a pair of Michigan-raised senior guards -- Do Stevens and Breean Walas -- to carry the team offensively.

"Cornell has some really good guards," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said. "Their perimeter offense is pretty good. In this game, we're going to try to not only neutralize their guards, but outplay them."

This task will not be easy, as the formidable backcourt duo accounts for 37.4 percent of the Big Red's offensive output.

Stevens and Walas also crash the boards exceptionally well for guards, averaging 6.0 and 5.1 rebounds per game, respectively.

However, Cornell is not as tall as many of the other teams that Penn has faced this season, and that may help the Quakers close the rebounding margin.

But after Tuesday's game, it's not the rebounding margin that Penn needs to worry about.

"Our biggest problem [on Tuesday] was turning the ball over, so we've worked on executing our offense and making better decisions with the ball," Jones said.

But Penn sophomore guard Mikaelyn Austin insists that the Quakers will "definitely" have the turnover problem under control this weekend.

If that's the case, Penn will certainly create some problems for Columbia, a team that has also struggled mightily to hold onto the ball as of late.

The Lions are averaging 18.9 turnovers per game in their last 10 contests.

But that doesn't mean tomorrow night's game will be an easy win.

On the contrary, the annual meeting in New York City tests Penn's ability to execute effectively as a team.

"Playing at Columbia has been the toughest game in [each of] the last two years," Greenberg said. "And this year their team is also well-rounded."

The Lions will definitely bring a very balanced offense to the contest, as no Columbia player is averaging double-figures in points on the season. Six players, however, are scoring at least 8.5 points per game.

But at this point, the Quakers aren't all that concerned with who their opponents are or what their opponents will do.

"Right now our focus is on our game," Greenberg said. "Hopefully we can play to our strengths and keep working our weaknesses."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.