Dartmouth, Harvard next on tap for W. Hoops

It's a whole new season for the Penn women's basketball team starting tonight. The Quakers enter the heart of their Ivy League season after plodding through their non-Ivy League games with a mediocre 6-7 record. Penn has played one Ancient Eight game already this season -- a 56-51 loss to Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium on Jan. 11. The Quakers will enter this weekend's roadtrip to Dartmouth and Harvard on a strong note. Penn surprised Delaware Tuesday night, 57-47, at the Palestra -- a win that has inspired the Quakers heading into this weekend's games. "I think the number one thing is that [the Delaware win] has given our players a lot of confidence," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said. "To finally beat Delaware, you can really feel the relief, and our confidence is really high right now." Penn is 6-8 against the Blue Hens in the all-time series. Before the Delaware win, the Quakers took care of business against Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa., securing a 79-69 victory. But the Ivy League is a completely different ball game. And a trip to Hanover, N.H., and Cambridge, Mass., this weekend will give the Red and Blue a chance to make up for their early Ivy loss to Princeton. Nonetheless, Dartmouth and Harvard both pose formidable threats. "I think every year going up to Harvard and Dartmouth is the hardest weekend because we are facing the two toughest teams back-to-back in their gyms," Greenberg said. Penn will first play in Dartmouth's Leede Arena tonight at 7 p.m. A traditional Ivy League powerhouse, the Big Green have opened their 2002-2003 campaign on an average note. Dartmouth is currently 6-9 overall and 0-2 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth's women's basketball tradition is one to be revered. Since 1979, every four-year player on the Dartmouth women's basketball team has graduated with at least one Ivy League championship ring. The Big Green's last action was an 87-60 loss at Iona on Jan. 21. Dartmouth's two Ivy League losses came at the hands of Penn's other opponent this weekend -- Harvard. In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 4, the Crimson dispatched Dartmouth, 56-53. The New England rivals met just a week later, and Harvard won more easily this time, 70-58, in Cambridge. Harvard has gotten off to a stronger start this season than the Big Green, posting a 10-4 record at this point in the season. Harvard's game against Penn's travel partner, Princeton, tonight will be the Crimson's first action in 20 days. Penn will enter tonight's matchup against Dartmouth riding the hot hand of junior Mikaelyn Austin. The guard led the Quakers in scoring against Delaware, dropping 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting, which included five three-pointers. "Coming into the game, she knows she's a shooter," Greenberg said. "And she's going to be taking shots."

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