Women's Basketball Set to Face Pennsylvania
Dec 7, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - -
The Tulane women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday as the Green Wave welcome defending Ivy League champion Penn to Fogelman Arena.
Saturday's game is Tulane's third straight, and fourth in its last five contests, against a team that reached the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Included in that stretch were games against two Final Four participants - Purdue and Southwest Missouri State - and SEC power Florida. In addition, against Penn, Tulane will be facing its third defending conference champion. In addition to Penn's Ivy League title, Purdue won the Big Ten championship last season. SMS shared last season's Missouri Valley Conference crown with Drake, who Tulane will face on the road on Dec. 21.
Tulane enters Saturday's game with a 7-1 record with its lone loss coming to then-10th ranked Purdue. So far this season, the Green Wave have won two regular-season tournament titles, claiming top honors at the San Juan Shootout and the Tulane Invitational. Junior Teana McKiver was named MVP at both tournaments.
Penn enters Saturday's game with a 2-5 record. The Quakers won their first two games of the year, against Hofstra and Davidson, before dropping five straight.
The Quakers are led in scoring and rebounding by Jewel Clark, who is averaging 16.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest. An Ivy League All-Rookie team selection last season, Clark also leads the team in assists (19) and steals (13). Julie Epton, a second-team All-Ivy League choice last year, is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, contributing 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Penn is coached by Kelly Greenberg, who has led the Quakers to a 42-21 record in two-plus seasons. The team captured its first-ever Ivy League title last season to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Tulane and Penn have met just once, with the Green Wave taking a 72-58 win in New Orleans on Dec. 31, 1992.
