After opening the season with three consecutive home games against city rivals, the Penn women's basketball team heads west this weekend for the Oakland Tribune Classic at the University of California at Berkeley's Haas Pavilion.
The Quakers (1-2) open the tournament Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against host Cal. The Colorado Buffaloes, a 2002 NCAA Elite Eight team, meet the Evansville Purple Aces in the other first round matchup.
Penn coach Kelly Greenberg's squad will be looking to rebound from a narrow defeat Wednesday night against Big 5 rival Villanova.
Despite junior Jewel Clark's second double-double of the season and a team-high 18 points from sophomore Katie Kilker, the Wildcats edged the Red and Blue at the Palestra, 65-54.
Clark, the reigning Big 5 Player of the Week, is doing well to build on last season's success.
She has been the offensive linchpin for the Quakers early on, averaging 22.3 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game -- both team highs.
Other early standouts include Kilker (18.0 ppg) -- who has grown tremendously in her role as the team's starting center -- as well as sophomore guard Karen Habrukowich, whose 12.3 ppg is good for third on the team.
Aside from Clark, Kilker and Habrukowich, however, no other Penn player is averaging in double figures. Tops on the squad after the trio is junior guard Mikaelyn Austin, who is putting up an average of 5.7 ppg.
In the first game of the weekend, Penn will look to knock off a Cal team that relies heavily on its defensive tenacity. In four games, the Bears have held their opponents to an average of 54 points per game -- a figure that ranks them third in the Pac 10.
Penn will be hard pressed however, to deal with the Bears aggressive defense, as they have exhibited significant turnover woes in the early going. Penn has turned the ball over 53 times in its first three games while forcing just 45 turnovers.
Offensively, the Bears, while not possessing a very diversified offensive attack, have had marginal success in their opening games, averaging 56.3 points per contest.
Penn's hopes to advance to Sunday's championship game, therefore, may rest on its ability to quell Cal's three-headed dragon -- junior Timea Ivanyi, and sophomores Kristin Iwanaga and Leigh Gregory -- who have dominated the scoring column thus far.
The trio has powered the offense for Cal coach Caren Horstmeyer, combining for 59 percent of the team's scoring.
The big story in the Cal lineup, though, is the highly-awaited debut of junior Nihan Anaz, a transfer from Weatherford College in Texas.
Anaz, a big-play shooting guard, will make her debut in Saturday's game after serving a five-game NCAA suspension for previous ties to a professional team abroad.
The 12th annual tournament concludes on Sunday with Penn vs. Colorado or Evansville at 1 p.m. followed by Cal vs. Colorado or Evansville at 3 p.m.
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