Renee Busch - Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania

Penn started quickly in the game going out to a 10 – 2 lead just two and a half minutes into the game.  Later in the half a 13 – 4 run put Penn ahead 30 – 14 that the Red and Blue rode to a 37 – 24 halftime advantage.  In the second half the defense took over as Penn held Columbia scoreless for almost a six minute span.  Meanwhile a 14 – 2 run keyed by four three-pointers put Penn in command the rest of the way.  Sophomore guard Meghan McCullough had two trey’s while Freshman forward  Katy Allen and Busch had the other shots from distance.  Columbia made 18 of 53 field goal attempts shooting 34%.

The 75 point outburst was the most points scored by Penn in a regulation game this season.

In addition to Busch Sophomore guard Alyssa Baron hit double figures with 13 points.  Freshman forward Kara Bonenberger put in 10 points.  Allen scored 12 points and Freshman guard Jackie Kates had 10.  Penn made 10 of 21 three-point attempts.  The Red and Blue out-rebounded Columbia 40 – 32.  The 16 Columbia turnovers resulted in a 15 – 9 advantage for Penn in points off turnovers.

The game saw the return of Penn Senior forward and co-captain Jess Knapp from injury.  Knapp has two torn ligaments in her knee.  She played 11 minutes and had 2 rebounds.

Penn returns to league play on Sunday, January 29 with a matinée game against Cornell.

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

“I was confident shooting my shots,” said Roberts.  “They were dropping.  I was playing hard and with energy.  My shots were going down, so I kept shooting.”

Roberts scored 22 points in the second half.  He tallied the final 15 Hawk points of the game over the last five and a half minutes.  Included in his run of points was a scramble where Roberts picked up a loose ball along the baseline, turned, and put up a desperation jumper that went in as the shot clock expired. With 2:28 to play Roberts took an inbounds pass from Sophomore forward Halil Kanacevic and streaked down the court putting in a windmill dunk, was fouled and made the free throw that gave Saint Joseph’s a 73 – 59 lead.  That was one of his favorite dunks of the season.

Early in the game Dayton owned the boards and took a 32 – 27 lead into halftime.  In the second half the game had a back and forth tempo to it.  The tide would turn in Saint Joseph’s direction when Sophomore Center C.J. Aiken blocked a shot that started to give the Hawks some energy.

“It had something to do with a C.J. (Aiken) block,” said Martelli.  “We hadn’t seen those kind of plays. He made a block, we had a run-out, and we had a little fire in our belly.”

Trailing 43 – 39 a that time the Hawks scored the next 11 points in the game.  Roberts had the first two baskets in that span with a dunk and a follow-up layup.  After a three-pointer by Sophomore guard Langston Galloway, Roberts threw down another dunk.  That was part of a 21 – 5 run that allowed the Crimson and Gray to move ahead 60 -46 with 8:40 on the clock.  Aiken added two baskets from beyond the arc, and his dunk at 6:31 was the last Saint Joseph’s points scored by a player other than Roberts.

“He (Roberts) played great, and I’m happy for him,” said Galloway.  “That windmill, I’ve never seen anything like that.  I’m very proud of him, and what he did.”

Saint Joseph’s had three other players score in double figures as Aiken had 14 points, Kanacevic scored 13 and added 7 rebounds, and Galloway contributed 1o points.  Junior guard Carl Jones had 8 points and 8 assists.   The Hawks tied a season-low with 5 turnovers, and tied a season high with 24 assists on their 29 baskets.  The Hawks shot 70% in the second half making 21 0f 30 field goal attempts.

Forward Chris Johnson and guard Kevin Dillard lead Dayton with 17 points each.  Johnson grabbed 8 rebounds while Dillard handed out 6 assists.

The Hawks even their Atlantic 10 record at 3, and move to 13 – 8 overall.  Dayton is 4 – 2 in league play, 14 – 6 on the season.  Next up for Saint Joseph’s is a city game at Temple.  The Hawks can come to work in a positive mode.  The streak is over, and it ended at the expense of the league leaders.  Roberts knows that has a huge impact on the team.

“It’s really significant,” Roberts said.  “Three (losses) in a row is too much.  We had to play hard.  The fans were really into it.  They gave us a boost, and we played off them.”

And after the game he celebrated by joining his parents to go out and eat.

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Ten NCAA^® men’s basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as finalists today for the 2011-12 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, and Penn senior guard Zack Rosen is among them.

Zack Rosen

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in November. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite candidate on either the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award website or the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through March 18. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I men’s and women’s basketball head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence—community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of finalists follows this release.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School^®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Rosen is certainly worthy of this recognition. The first three-time captain in the history of Penn men’s basketball program, he has had an outstanding career. On January 4, Rosen became the program’s all-time assist leader. The senior guard has also dished off more than 100 assists this season, making him the first player in Penn history to have four seasons with more than 100 assists. Rosen currently sits ninth on Penn’s all-time scoring list with 1,469 points, fourth all-time in games started (101) and minutes played (3,664), sixth in three-pointers made (194), and seventh in free throws made (383).

A two-time first-team All-Ivy selection and a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week already this season, Rosen entered the week leading the Ivy League and 14th nationally in assists per game (6.2); second in the Ivy League and 13th nationally in free-throw percentage (.743); and second among Ivy players and 35th nationally in scoring (18.3 ppg). He is one of just 20 players still eligible for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard.

Enrolled in Penn’s prestigious Wharton School of Business with a concentration in business management, Rosen expects to graduate in May.

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the men’s Senior CLASS Award^® winner during the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four^®, which will be held March 31 and April 2 in New Orleans.

Men’s Basketball Finalists

William Buford, Guard, Ohio State

Ashton Gibbs, Guard, Pittsburgh

Draymond Green, Forward, Michigan State

Mick Hedgepeth, Forward, Belmont

Robbie Hummel, Forward, Purdue

Quinn McDowell, Forward, William and Mary

Ronald Nored, Guard, Butler

Zack Novak, Guard/Forward, Michigan

Zack Rosen, Guard, Pennsylvania

Tyler Zeller, Forward, North Carolina

ABOUT THE AWARD

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School^®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. The award is sponsored by Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, and is managed by Premier Sports Management.

ABOUT LOWE’S

With fiscal year 2010 sales of $48.8 billion, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE^® 50 company that serves approximately 15 million customers a week at more than 1,725 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world. Lowe’s is an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA.

ABOUT THE NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit NCAA.org and NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

NCAA and Men’s Final Four are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Laura Sweeney

In the first half Villanova got off to a good start making 7 of 14 shots from beyond the arc.  Burford made 3 of 4 from distance leading Villanova to a 33 – 18 halftime lead.  Burford and Senior guard Lindsay Kimmel made shots from outside.  Senior forward Laura Sweeney made shots from inside.  Villanova was playing effective offense.

“We were hitting threes and it got them down a bit, so we kept pushing it,” said Burford.

“We’re an inconsistent offensive team,” Perretta said.  “We have to get better at being consistent.  When we are consistent, we look pretty good.”

The three-pointers did not fall as often in the second half.  Villanova made just 3 of 9 from distance.  Cincinnati put pressure on the ball making it hard to get that long shot.  Sweeney was on the bench with 3 personal fouls.  Villanova led 40 – 24 with 15:13 to play.  Cincinnati began their charge.  A 15 – 6 run by the Bearcats keyed by the play of guard Bjonee Reaves who scored 13 points in that span.  Villanova got a three from Senior guard Rachel Roberts to get the lead back to 10 at 49 – 39.  After a basket by guard Dayeesha Hollins Junior forward Megan Pearson hit a three to give Villanova a 52 – 41 lead at the 7:39 mark.  That would be the last three of the game for the Wildcats.

Cincinnati kept the pressure on out front.  An 8 – 0 by the Bearcats cut the lead to 52 – 49 with 5:04 to play.  Sweeney took the ball to the basket making a layup at the 4:12 mark.  The next basket of the game came at 2:11 when Sweeney made a short jumper giving her team 7 point edge.  Another layup at 1:13 by Sweeney answered a Cincinnati basket Hollins.  Four free throws by Sophomore guard Devon Kane gave Villanova their final margin of victory.

“Even though they (Cincinnati) were making a charge, they still had to make up 15 points,” Perretta said.  “They missed a couple of shots down the stretch, and Laura Sweeney made three huge baskets.  She was able to score to put is up 5 which was crucial.”

Sweeney scored 14 points and took down 6 rebounds.  Kane scored 9 points and handed out 4 assists.  Reaves scored a game-high 20 points for the Bearcats.  Hollins added 17 points and 6 rebounds.

Villanova improves to 3 – 4 in the Big East matching their total from the previous season.  13 wins for the Wildcats exceeds the total from last year’s campaign.  The Wildcats broke a three game losing streak in conference.  It was also an important bounce back win after the loss at Notre Dame as Villanova enters another phase of their schedule.

“This is huge and sets the momentum for us going into what we call another season for us,” said Kimmel.  We played UConn and Notre Dame.  When those games are done we look at it like a whole new season.  This is huge for us to get off to a good start.”

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

PHILADELPHIA, January 4, 2012 – Temple’s head softball coach, Joe DiPietro has announced the captains for the 2012 season. Senior Samantha Schoell, and juniors Kayla Cook and Ali Robinson will split the leadership role for the upcoming season. All three players were captains last season.

Schoell played in and started all 45 games for Temple this past season, one of only two players to do so. The right fielder had her best offensive year to date, with a career-best .234 average to go along with career-highs in doubles (5), triples (1) and homeruns (2). The Lansdale, Pa., native continues to also get it done in the classroom, sporting the top grade point average among Temple University student-athletes this past spring and earning her second-straight appearance on Temple’s “Trustee Ten” list, given to the top-10 student-athletes at Temple based on GPA. In May, she was named to the Capital OneAcademic All-District II University Division First Team. She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the University’s Dean’s List and the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

“Sam has all of my respect as a player and a person,” said DiPietro. “She’s the quiet one on our team and leads by example. When Sammy does say something, all of our players know to listen and they do because of the person that she is. I’m really going to miss everything she brings to our team next year after she graduates.”

Cook returns to the squad for her junior campaign after seeing limited action last season due to injury. She will look to build on a solid rookie season that saw her start in all 47 games in which she played. She saw time at four different positions for the Owls (catcher, first base, third base and designated hitter), with most of her time spent behind the plate or at first. Cook batted .213 with five doubles and two homeruns. Defensively, she was solid in her active positions, committing just nine errors in 256 chances for a .965 fielding percentage.

“Kayla has come a long way since her freshmen year,” commented DiPietro. “She, like Sammy, is a more reserved person. Last year as one of our captains Kayla, couldn’t play much due to recovering from shoulder surgery. That didn’t deter her from being a leader. She did whatever she could to help her teammates become better players, as well as learning what it means to be a Division I player.”

Robinson, the team’s starting centerfielder in all 44 games she played in last season, rounds out the trio of captains for the Owls. She batted .234 last year with a career-best six doubles and six home runs. Her 19 RBI ranked fifth on the squad, and she proved a threat on the base path with a perfect 6-for-6 effort in stolen bases. Robinson continued to prove her defensive abilities, committing just three errors in 71 opportunities for a .958 fielding percentage.

“Ali was my first recruit when I became the coach at Temple,” said DiPietro. “One of the things that drew me toward Ali was her leadership qualities. It didn’t hurt that she was a tremendous player too! She is our vocal leader and I’m really happy that she’s serving as captain again.”

Temple will look to improve on its 22-23 (12-6 A-10) record from a season ago that saw the team advance to the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time since 2007. The Owls finished the season fourth in the 11-team A-10 conference.

The Cherry and White open the season on February 24 when they head to Conway, S.C., for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Classic. First pitch of the season is slated for 11 a.m. against IPFW, before the squad takes on the host team at 3:30 p.m. that same day

PHILADELPHIA, January 22, 2012 – Scot Loeffler, who served as Temple University’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach last fall, has resigned to accept the offensive coordinator’s position at Auburn University, Temple head coach Steve Addazio announced Sunday evening.

“I am very happy for Scot and his family,” Addazio said. “This is a great opportunity for him and his career. We are very grateful for his contributions to Temple, and we certainly understand that when our great coaches have opportunities, it’s a compliment to our program. We wish Scot nothing but the best. He will always have a special place here at Temple.”

In 2011, Loeffler guided the Temple offense that set the season school records for rushing yards (3,335), rushing touchdowns (38), rushing attempts (636), total touchdowns (50), total offense (4,983), and most first downs (245) behind the explosive efforts of All-MAC junior running backs Bernard Pierce and Matt Brown.

“Scot is a rising star who has worked with some very good quarterbacks, and has achieved a tremendous amount of success,” Auburn head football coach Gene Chizik said. “He is a tireless worker, is an outstanding recruiter and knows the rigors of competing in this conference. We’re very excited to have Scot join our staff and we welcome him to the Auburn family.”

Prior to joining the Owls, Loeffler spent two seasons at the University of Florida as the quarterbacks coach. In 2010, Florida scored 35 touchdowns and six field goals on 58 red zone trips. The Gators scored on 15 consecutive red zone possessions, including 14 touchdowns.

Loeffler spent one season in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, where he guided a quarterback unit that threw for 2,960 yards in 2008.

Prior to joining the Lions, Loeffler coached the quarterbacks at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, for six seasons, guiding second-round draft pick Chad Henne. Under the tutelage of Loeffler, Henne became the first true freshman QB to lead his team to a Big Ten title and start in a BCS bowl game.

A Barberton, Ohio, native, Loeffler served as Central Michigan’s quarterbacks’ coach for two seasons in 2000-01.

A quarterback for the Wolverines from 1993-96, Loeffler received his bachelor’s degree in history in 1996. He helped guide two NFL quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Brian Griese as a graduate and student assistant at Michigan and was a part of the Wolverine staff during the 1997 undefeated season and National Championship title.

Tyler Bernardini and Zack Rosen - Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania

“We expected to win the game,” said Rosen.  “We blew a large lead, but our guys made plays down the stretch.  We turned the ball over way too much against the press.  It’s a good win for us.”

Wanting to throw the first punch Penn started the game scoring 12 of the first 18 points of the game in the first five minutes.  Saint Joseph’s came back to tie, then Penn answered with a run.  This was a recurring theme in the game.  The Quakers held a 44 – 32 halftime lead finish the half with a 12 – 3 run.n  The Red and Blue took advantage of 7 turnovers taking a 12 – 0 edge in fast break points.  In the second half Penn would increase their lead to 23 points at 62 – 39 with 12:13 to play.  Penn looked unbeatable, and were enjoying how the game was going.

“Making shots is contagious,” said Bernardini.  “We were enjoying everyone’s success.  One guy starts hitting shots, another guy is hitting shots, it’s a party out there.  That’s the way we want to be.  We want to make shots, play defense, and enjoy it.  That’s the best part about basketball.  It’s the Palestra, it’s winter, it’s snowing, there’s no better place to be than out on the court playing.”

The party was at its zenith.  Saint Joseph’s wanted to join the festivities.  The Hawks went to a full court pressure defense that resulted in 11 second half turnovers by Penn.  The lead began to shrink.  Sophomore guard Langston Galloway was getting to the foul line, and Junior guard Carl Jones was hitting shots from beyond the arc.  A Jones three-point play cut the Penn lead to 68 – 64 with 4:47 to play.  The crowd was alive.  It was a Big Five game.

Rosen began to reassert himself scoring 7 of the next 9 points for Penn.  His jump shot at the two-minute mark went in with one second on the shot clock.  That basket got the lead back to 10 points.  Saint Joseph’s was not finished.  The Hawks responded with 4 consecutive three-point baskets.  Three were turned in by Galloway, one by Freshman guard Chris Wilson.  However, Penn made 8 of 10 free throws down that stretch to keep the lead and get the win.  Saint Joseph’s won the second half 48 – 40.

Penn Coach Jerome Allen was pleased with the victory.  As a fan he enjoyed the game.  From a coaches perspective, the lost lead is a concern.  He sees issues to be addressed.  “They should have a better focus, a little more understanding, a little more poise,” said Allen.  “Make simple basketball plays.  It seemed like everybody was in a rush, the ball was like a hot potato.  Defensively, you can’t give up almost fifty points in a half in Division I basketball and expect to win a basketball game.”

“You try to have a balance between playing basketball and still keep your foot on the gas,” said Bernardini.  “We didn’t do what we were supposed to do, and that’s something we have to learn.  They’re talented (Saint Joseph’s) and made a lot of big plays.  We were fortunate to get a win.”
Saint Joseph’s Coach Phil Martelli lamented that his team did not perform better over the course of the game.

“You get a chance to play on a Saturday night in the Palestra, you have to embrace that,” said Martelli.  “I can’t say that we embraced that for forty minutes.”

Bernardini led Penn with 24 points and 6 rebounds.  Rosen added 16 points and handed out 8 assists.  Senior forward Rob Belcore and Sophomore guard Miles Cartwright each scored 12 points.

Galloway had a career-high 32 points masking 10 of 14 field goal attempts, 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.  Jones scored 16 points, 10 in the second half.  Sophomore center C.J. Aiken scored 13 points, added 7 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots.  Wilson scored 11 points.

Penn is on a three-game winning streak.  The Quakers return to Ivy League play meeting arch-rival Princeton on January 30 at the Palestra.

Saint Joseph’s is on a three-game losing streak.  The Hawks look to right the ship on January 25 hosting league leading Dayton.  Martelli knows the team needs to turn it around returning the early season form.

“It’s not one thing, we’ve lost our way,” Martelli said.

“We have to play better.  Any synonym you want to use, use it.  We just have to play better.  We’re not playing well right now.”

Boxscore

Written By:  Glenn Papazian

“Their basketball IQ is as good as anybody that I have coached over the years.  Those three guys are as good as anybody I coached.  They look for one another, and as good as scorers as they are, they enjoy passing the ball just as much.

“They (Temple) have so many guys who are good with the ball, so smart, hard to guard,” said Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon.  “They ran their sets, they play inside out with penetration.  But they are so smart with the basketball.  Their basketball IQ is off the charts.”

Temple had 20 assists on 27 baskets.  Moore, Wyatt, and Fernandez accounted for 13 of the assists.

“That’s what we try to do, be unselfish as we can, and we have three guys who do a good job of that,” said Dunphy.  “They all want to score, and we need them to score, but they all like to give it up as well.  That is part of the reason why we are difficult to guard.”

Their leadership was needed late in the game.  Temple came out in the second half with a 32 – 29 lead.  That lead grew to 12 at 50 – 38 six and a half minutes into the half.  Maryland began their comeback.  Temple Sophomore guard Aaron Brown netted a three with 11:57 to play giving his team a 55 – 45 lead.  That would be the last basket for the Cherry and White for over four and a half minutes when a layup Moore broke a 9 – 0 Maryland.  Prior to Moore’s basket the Terps got to within 55 -54.  Guard Terrell Stoglin kept Maryland within one at 57 – 56.  The “Big Three” came up big.  Wyatt and Moore hit back to back threes.  After a three-pointer Fernandez answered with a basket from beyond the arc that stretched the Owls lead to 66 – 59 at the 3:26 mark.

Later in the half Moore missed a layup at the 1:57 mark, but grabbed the offensive rebound to keep possession.  After a timeout Moore converted a layup as Temple moved in front 70 – 60 with 1:25 on the clock.  A steal by Fernandez and a fast break layup by Wyatt sealed the game for Temple.  Moore credited experience as the key factor in Temple’s ability to keep the lead despite Maryland having all of the momentum.

“We’ve been in plenty of tough situations throughout the year,” said Moore.  “In the timeout I told the guys ‘we’re good’ we got a lot of good shots, we just didn’t make them.”

Redshirt Freshman Anthony Lee scored 12 points and had a team-high 8 rebounds.  The Owls held a 17 – 4 edge in points off turnovers.

Stoglin scored 20 points for the Terps.  Guard Pe’Shon Howard added 15.  Forward James Padgett chipped in 10 points while guard Sean Mosley took down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The game featured the return of center Michael Eric from injury.  It was an opportunity to remove the rust playing seven minutes.  He missed his only shot, but Dunphy was glad he took it.

Boxscore

Written By:  Glenn Papazian

Women’s Game Temple Owls 67 Duquesne Dukes 63

Temple committed 23 turnovers that gave Duquesne a 25 – 13 edge in points off turnovers, but survived making 7 three-pointers compared to 2 for Duquesne to earn a 67 – 64 win.  The Owls took the lead at 50 – 49 at the 9:48 mark of the second half on free throws by Senior guard Kristen McCarthy, and held it the rest of the game.  The Dukes rallied from seven points down to cut the deficit to one point at 65 – 64 with 10 seconds on the clock.  Free throws by Senior guard Shey Peddy gave Temple the final margin of victory.  Peddy had a game-high 22 points and took down 11 rebounds, McCarthy added 11, and guard B.J. Williams had 14 points.  Center Victoria Macaulay grabbed 11 rebounds.  The Owls had a 43 – 25 rebounding advantage, 16 – 8 on the offensive glass.  Three Duquesne players scored in double-figures. Jocelyn Ford had a team-high 18 points while forwards Wumi Agunbiade and Orsi Szecsi had 15 and 10 points.

Men’s Game Temple Owls 76 LaSalle Explorers 70

It was a one possession game from the 9 minute mark to the last-minute.  A short jump shot by Temple Senior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson gave his team a 74 – 69 lead, and enough breathing room in taking a 76 – 70 home court win over LaSalle.  Both teams are 2 – 2 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

Jefferson scored a career-high in points with 19 and a team-high in rebounds with 7.  Senior guard Ramone Moore scored 17 points.  Senior guard Juan Fernandez and Junior guard Khalif Wyatt each had 12 points.  Fernandez had 5 assists.  Temple out-rebounded LaSalle 38 – 27.  The Owls registered 9 block shots, a career-high 5 by Redshirt Freshman Anthony Lee.  Temple shot 51.9% making 27 of 52 field goal attempts, 58.3% in the second half (14 – 24).  LaSalle was 9 – 18 from the free throw line while Temple was 18 – 22, 16 – 18 by Moore, Fernandez, and Jefferson.

Sophomore guard Tyreek Duren scored 18 points for LaSalle.  Junior guard Ramone Galloway scored 17, and Senior guard Earl Pettis contributed 12.

Temple improves to 12 – 5 and bounced back after a loss at Richmond.  LaSalle has lost two straight moving to 13 – 6 on the season.  Both teams return to action on January 21.  LaSalle hosts Rhode Island while Temple welcomes Maryland.

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Villanova Coach Harry Perretta

“It’s always fun to win that (the Big Five),” said Villanova Coach Harry Perretta about his team taking the 2011-12 crown.  “For the kids it means a lot, and being from Philly it means a lot to me, too.  Even though we won the game by a decent amount of points, it was a Big Five game.”

Penn was able to stay with Villanova for the first ten minutes of the contest.  The Quakers led 11 – 9, but they would score only 5 more points for the rest of the half.  The Wildcats rode a 21 – 5 run to a 30 – 16 halftime lead.  A 16 – 6 run at the start of the second half sealed the deal for the Blue and White as they took a 46 – 22 lead with 7:12 to play.

Once Villanova established offensive flow the formula was to get the ball inside.  Senior forward Laura Sweeney took advantage of the inside scoring a game-high 22 points as she made 9 of 16 shots.  Sweeney pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.  When Penn was forced to defend the paint, Villanova moved the ball to the perimeter.  The Wildcats made 7 of 29 three-pointers.  Redshirt Freshman forward Lauren Burford made 5 of 10 from beyond the arc for 17 total points.  Villanova had a 20 -12 advantage in points in the paint.

“Early in the game we were rushing everything, and turning it over or not getting a quality shot,” said Perretta.  “Then at the end of the first half we decided to walk the ball up the court and take our time.  What happened was we put Sweeney and (Freshman Forward Emily) Leer in a better position to see the double team.  Then we started to get more quality kick-outs and open shots.”

“We tried to find mismatches if they doubled or collapsed inside, we have great shooters from the perimeter that are killers if we go inside out,” said Sweeney.

Defensively, the Wildcats held the Quakers to 26.1% shooting making 12 of 46, and 5 of 22 threes.  The Red and Blue committed 23 turnovers that led to 21 points off turnovers for the Blue and White.  Penn’s leading scorer Sophomore guard Alyssa Baron was held scoreless bothered by Villanova’s superior size.  Baron did contribute 4 assists and 7 rebounds.  Senior forward Jourdan Banks led Penn with 9 points.

“We were very non-competitive with them over the last 28 minutes,” said Penn Coach Mike McLaughlin.  “I didn’t think we played the way Penn plays.  We didn’t compete as hard as we have to do to give ourselves a chance.”

Penn is establishing themselves as a tough defensive squad.  However, the Quakers have not been able to consistently score.  The team has been held under 50 points in their last six games, something of concern McLaughlin.

Villanova improves to 12 – 6 overall.  The Wildcats return to Big East play as they travel to South Bend to meet national power Notre Dame on January 21.  Penn is 7 – 7 and is 0 – 2 in the Big Five.  On January 21 they play their third city series contest at home against Temple.

Boxscore

Written By:  Glenn Papazian