High-flying Eagles extend Palestra misery

By Eric Karlan

Staff Writer

karlan@sas.upenn.edu

Playing on the home court doesn't seem to be an advantage for the Penn women's basketball team.

The Quakers continued their home woes on Sunday, when they fell to American 61-51. This was their fourth loss out of four games at the Palestra this season.

Interestingly, though, Penn (3-4) finds itself undefeated so far on the road.

Three days after overcoming a seven-point deficit with two minutes remaining to beat Lafayette in Easton, Pa., the Quakers were not able to make another comeback.

"We won a good close game the other night, so we know we can do it," coach Pat Knapp said. "There were pieces missing today. We didn't complete the play[s]. We deserved to lose."

The Quakers floundered out of the gate, as American jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. It took sophomore guard Kelly Scott, coming off the bench to replace sophomore Anca Popovici, to jump-start Penn's scoring with a three-pointer - 5:02 into the game

In a perplexing turn of events, Penn seemed to have more success with its leading scorer, senior forward Monica Naltner, on the bench. After picking up two ticky-tack fouls, Naltner left the game for most of the first half, and after that, things began to go the Quakers' way.

"I think Cait Slover came in and played some good ball at the four spot," Knapp said of the freshman who replaced Naltner. "Maggie Burgess [also] played really well - she got it inside. We played better defense. We played the pick-and-roll better. [We improved] everything, really."

Thanks to some acrobatic layups by senior guard Joey Rhoads, the Quakers entered the locker room at halftime leading 26-23. When play resumed, however, it was all downhill for the home team.

American's star guard, Liz Hayes, drained two long three-pointers, and led all scorers with 19 overall, as the Eagles outscored the Quakers 38-25 in the second half.

"We didn't execute," Knapp said of his team's second half. "We really wanted to get it inside more. . We certainly didn't play good defensively in the last five minutes. I think there were times American gave us the ball back because we did do some good things. We had some good shots late in the game and didn't make them."

This was the first game of the season in which Penn failed to win after leading at the break.

Scott finished the game with seven points and four rebounds in 37 minutes of play, in spite of the fact that Knapp started Popovici in favor of Scott.

"Typically, when somebody zones us, we are looking for that extra offensive punch, so that's a move we are going to make," Knapp said of his decision. "Obviously, Kelly can shoot the ball, and she had some good looks."

While Naltner and Rhoads were the only Quakers in double-figures, Lauren Pears and Slover also added seven and six points, respectively, giving Penn a more balanced offensive attack.

"Obviously, it wasn't enough," Knapp said. "We did not get the ball inside enough. We did not play physically enough inside, and I think American played too physical inside."

Nevertheless, Knapp vows the Quakers will rebound in time for their bout with Drexel on December 21.

"We'll be back," he said.

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