Penn looks to avoid 2nd straight Big 5 goose egg

By Eric Karlan

Staff Writer

karlan@sas.upenn.edu

While the Penn women's basketball squad remains winless in Big 5 play this season, Saint Joseph's (10-8, 2-1 Big 5) is seeking to snatch the coveted city title away from reigning champion Temple by week's end.

But first the Hawks will need to make it past the Quakers (6-9, 0-3 Big 5), who make the short commute uptown this evening to close out their Big 5 schedule.

"We want that championship," St. Joe's coach Cindy Griffin said. "We gotta get through Penn, and we gotta get through Temple. That's one of our goals this year, and that's definitely on our mind."

Griffin, who notched her 150th career victory in her team's last game at Saint Louis, is experienced enough to know Penn's poor showings in Big 5 play means little once the whistle blows tonight.

"Anytime you play a city series . people are going to give it everything they have," Griffin said.

A win against the Hawks would be monumental for the visiting Quakers. In the teams' 31 meetings, Penn has won just once - a 64-57 victory at St. Joe's in Penn coach Pat Knapp's first season, three years ago.

While the Quakers' greater concern is the conference schedule, they would like nothing more than to play spoiler on their rival's home court.

"St. Joe's would like to win the next two games to win the Big Five title and our job . is to not let that happen," Knapp said. "Even though it's buried in the middle of the calendar for us, all the Big Five games are important. It would be a big win for us."

After a week-long hiatus, Penn hopes to convert recent momentum into its first three-game winning streak in almost two years. After an embarrassing collapse against Cornell on January 12, the Red and Blue blew out Columbia to end the weekend on a high note and then edged Manhattan on the road.

"The key thing is that we're really only working on our stuff," Knapp said of the team's goals in practice. "We know what St. Joe's is going to do. They run multiple offenses and multiple defenses. We have to . be on the same page defensively in terms of communicating the different strategies we have."

On offense, Knapp hopes to see more from the unfamiliar suspects.

Starters Lauren Pears, Anca Popovici and Maggie Burgess have stepped up recently, providing a nice support staff for Joey Rhoads and Monica Naltner. Kelly Scott and Ashley Gray have made vital contributions off the bench, including double-digit performances from Gray in the last two games that looked to be the difference.

Meanwhile, the Hawks boast a balanced offensive attack, led by star senior Ayahna Cornish, who leads the team with 281 points (15.6 points per game).

Knapp said: "We have to contain her and can't let her get to the basket. But they have other kids that they go to on that team," referring to a cast that includes senior Whitney Ffrench and sophomore Jen Oyler.

And the Hawks have done their scouting, too.

"Defending them [is crucial]," Griffin said. "We'll do what we do, which is trying to make them uncomfortable, and keep them out of their comfort zone, and try to keep Rhoads under control."

If Griffin's team does that, she will be poised to leave Knapp's squad winless in the Big 5 for the second consecutive season.

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