Quakers Sweep Ivy League Opening Weekend; Beat Brown, 73-63

The Penn women's hoops team improved to 3-0 in the Ancient
Eight on Saturday night at The Palestra.


Jan. 31, 2004


PHILADELPHIA -- The Penn women's basketball team fought its
way to a 73-63 victory over Ivy-rival Brown on Saturday night
at The Palestra. The Quakers allowed the Bears to climb to within
five points three times in the second half but superb free-throw
shooting from Jennifer Fleischer and the rest of the team held off
Brown for the double-digit win and a share of the Ivy League lead
at 3-0. A replay of the game can be seen on UTV Channel 13 beginning
at midnight and running until 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1.

Penn used 11 first half points from Jewel Clark and seven from Joey
Rhoads to build a 10-point, 36-26, halftime lead against the Bears.
Clark finished with 25 points to lead all scorers and is now just 11
points away from becoming only the third player in Penn women's
basketball history to reach the 1,500-point plateau for a career.

More importantly, the Quakers stifled Brown's best offensive weapon,
holding Tanara Golston (11.6 ppg) to no points in the first half.
Golston did not score until she ripped off 13 midway through the
second half. Clark loved the defensive effort.

"I feel a good defense feeds a good offense. You can win a game
2-0," Clark commented.

Brown made it interesting, pulling to within five points three times
between the 6:09 and 54-second mark. Golston sparked the run with her
13 points as she led two other Bears in double figures. Penn proved
to be too much down the stretch as the Quakers hit 14-of-19 free throws
in the second half to keep Brown at bay throughout the second period.
Fleischer was a perfect 6-of-6 at the line. She also had a career-high
17 rebounds to lead all players on the glass.

The Red and Blue built on their 10-point half time lead, opening the
second half with a 15-5 run to take a 52-37 lead at the 13:12 mark.
Mikaelyn Austin was 4-of-9 from the floor, finishing with nine points
and Katie Kilker joined Rhoads with seven points off the bench. Karen
Habrukowich scored in double figures for the first time as a starter,
finishing with 11 points. (4-of-11).

Penn is now in a two-way tie for the Ivy League lead with Dartmouth who
is also 3-0 in the Ancient Eight after defeating Cornell, 81-76. The
Quakers hit the road next weekend for games against Harvard and the Big
Green (Feb. 6-7). The Crimson picked up their first Ivy win on Saturday
night, defeating Columbia, 70-58.

Written by Mat Kanan, associate director of athletic communications