Game 27: Yale – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (W. Hoops)

Posted on March 10, 2013 by timghosh

THE GOOD: Kara Bonenberger

Sophomore Kara Bonenberger turned in a very strong performance for the Quakers. Bonenberger had a double-double – 20 points and 12 boards – to provide secondary scoring alongside leading scorer Alyssa Baron’s 22 points.

THE BAD: Ivy title hopes are over

Penn’s loss coupled with Harvard’s win knocks them out of second place in the Ancient Eight and the automatic bid to the Women’s NIT with only one game to play for each. It appears that Penn’s hopes for postseason play are slipping away.

THE UGLY: Struggles beyond the arc

The Quakers shot just 25.0 percent from beyond the arc while the Bulldogs finished shooting 54.5 percent from three. Yale ultimately finished with 12 three-pointers – twice as many as Penn. That’s an 18-point differential in a game decided by five points.

Game 21: Dartmouth – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Posted on February 16, 2013 by timghosh

RECAP // BOX SCORE

After the Lady Quakers completed one of their most successful weekends in recent memory, a Good, Bad & Ugly for their 63-40 rout of Dartmouth.

THE GOOD: Keiera Ray

With 50 points in this weekend's two games, including 19 tonight, consider this freshman guard Keiera Ray’s coming out party once and for all. She led all scorers in both games this weekend. Her emergence along with the steady play of junior guard Alyssa Baron give the Quakers a formidable backcourt.

THE BAD: Princeton continues to dominate

Not much bad to take away from the weekend for the Quakers. Perhaps the only downside is that the Tigers do not appear to be slowing down any time soon Penn hopes to catch them in the standings. There is some hope, however. A Dartmouth squad that the Quakers just blew out lost to Princeton by “only” 12 points on Friday night – their smallest margin of victory in Ivy play this season.

THE UGLY: Dartmouth turnovers

The Big Green turned the ball over a whopping 23 times. Penn’s 24-0 advantage in points off turnovers covered its entire margin of victory. By continually handing the ball back to the Quakers, Dartmouth never gave themselves a chance.

Penn’s top ‘D’ to meet Princeton’s Ivy-best ‘O’

Posted on October 29, 2012 by timghosh

Princeton's Jen Hoy (topdrawsoccer.com)

As was anticipated in this space two weeks ago, Penn women's soccer has a chance to win a share of the Ivy League title in the season finale against Princeton. In a game that has no lack of compelling story lines, a central one will be the age-old question: Is it defense or offense that wins championships?

The Tigers have the Ivy League’s top-ranked attack, averaging 2.81 goals per game. They are led by senior forward Jen Hoy, who is having a historic season. Hoy, who hails from the suburbs of Philadelphia, has 17 goals in 16 games this season. Even if she ends the season without another goal, she will stand sixth all-time in the Ivy League for goals in a single season.

The Quakers, meanwhile, have the Ancient Eight’s top defense, yielding only 0.78 goals per game. Penn’s stalwart defense is the result of a strong collective effort. Not only do the Quakers keep opponents out of the net, but they've also allowed starting goalkeeper Sarah Banks to make the second fewest saves in the league.

The magic number here is two. Over the last two seasons, the Quakers have gone 10-0-1 when they have held their opponents under two goals. But the Tigers have not been held under two goals since a three-game non-conference stretch back in September. Something will have to give between this clash of titans.