Page A4 Columbia Daily Spectator
SPORTS
March 4, 2005
Seven Seniors
Say `Sayonara' On
Saturday Night
By Jeff Silberman
Spectator Staff Writer
With the midway point of the conference season approach-
ing and their hopes for an Ivy League title dwindling, the Co-
lumbia women's basketball team will play two important--and
winnable--games this weekend when Penn and Princeton
visit the Levien Underground.
Columbia is coming off a weekend
in which it played extremely well in the
first half against Yale last Friday night
but seemed to lose focus in the second
half, a trend that carried over to its
game with Brown the following night.
In the first half of the Yale game,
the Lions held the Bulldogs to just four
of 24 shooting, a dismal 16.7 percent.
In the second half, however, Yale shot
46.9 percent and more than tripled its
point total from the first stanza. Colum-
bia tightened the clamps a bit against
Brown on Saturday, holding the Bears
to 38 percent shooting from the field,
but they allowed 26 free-throw at-
tempts--including 12 for guard Sarah
Hayes--of which they connected on
23. With a full week of practice under
his belt, though, acting head coach
Tori Verdi thinks he can remedy his
team's recent inconsistent play.
"Are there going to be changes? Yes," Verdi said. "We
have to come out with the same aggressiveness that you saw
against Yale. You can't turn it on and turn it off. You can't be
selective. We're going to come out and pressure them."
In addition to his defense, Verdi will be looking to ignite
an offense which has been carried by
the low-post play of seniors Edytte Key
and Adia Revell but has been marked
by poor outside shooting. In the game
against Brown, the Lions attempted 21
three-pointers and made just four.
"You're going to probably see some
more [isolation plays] for perhaps
people who can go one-on-one like Sue
Altman, and Megan [Griffith] coming
off the dribble," Verdi said. "You'll see
a lot more high pick-and-rolls. I think
you'll see Lisa Copeland coming off
more screens and Sue Kern coming
off more screens. But the thing is they
need to use those screens the right
way."
If the Lions are to improve offen-
sively this weekend, they will have to
do it first against a stingy Penn defense
that has allowed its opponents just 36 percent shooting from
the field and 33.5 percent from three-point range so far this
season. The Quakers (10-8, 3-2 Ivy) will visit New York look-
ing to reverse their two-game losing streak that has come after
winning their previous seven contests.
Penn is led by 6'3" junior Jennifer Fleischer, who averag-
es a double-double on the season and could cause match-up
problems for the Lions if Key and forward Erin Jaschik con-
tinue to be limited by injuries. Complementing Fleischer is
senior guard Karen Habrukowich, who has upped her season
scoring average from 11.7 to 14 points per game versus confer-
ence foes.
On Saturday the Lions will face off against a very young
Princeton team that features just one senior, guard Kristin
Lynch, and is led by sophomore Rebecca Brow and four-time
Ivy League Rookie of the Week Meagan Cowher. Brown aver-
ages a team-best 13.6 points and six rebounds per game while
Cowher, the daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill
Cowher, is averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game
while shooting a robust 51.2 percent from the field.
In order to contain Cowher, the Lions will need to play
strong team defense. If that fails, it may not be a bad idea to
revert to last week's strategy versus Brown: foul. For the sea-
son Cowher is shooting just 59.7 percent from the line, which
is a mere eight percentage points higher than her field goal
percentage.
JOSH KINDLER--STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
With Edytte Key (above) and Erin Jaschik back from injuries, the Lions' interior defense will have much-needed help.
Columbia:
Make me
Believe Again
Previewed
Matchup
Yale at
Columbia
7 P.M.
Levien Gym
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Harvard, Dartmouth, and Cornell Battle for Second
TARA ZABOR--STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Princeton
must win
both of its
games this
weekend
to avoid its
first losing
Ivy season in
school his-
tory.
It's not that few people thought Dartmouth would fin-
ish with a chance at eight or nine wins. It's that nobody
did. The Big Green's only Ivy win last year came against
Harvard, which won just four games overall. This year,
they've beaten every Ivy foe save Penn, whom they visit
Friday night.
The Quakers have wrapped up the Ivy title and are
playing for seeding in the NCAA tournament. That said,
they've basically been playing for seeding since they took
care of Princeton back on Feb. 8. Their defense has been
dominating throughout the Ivy season, and they've got-
ten enough offense from Ibby Jaaber, Steve Danley and
Player of the Year favorite Tim Begley. Could they still
fall flat against Dartmouth?
For the Big Green, this season has already been
a resounding success--they don't need to win this
game or the one at Princeton to validate it. A win over
Penn might drive next year's expectations past where
Dartmouth head coach Terry Dunn would want them.
Dartmouth's riding a four-game winning streak, and
they're not thinking towards next year. Penn's riding
a three game winning streak, but under Fran Dunphy,
they're not looking towards next week. The Quakers
have won because they've watched opponents beat
themselves and made plays when their opponents don't
stumble. They play 40 minutes of even-keeled basket-
ball. It's been good enough to win the Ivy League, and it
will be good enough to win this game.
Spectator Pick a
Dartmouth (10-15, 7-5)
at Penn (17-8, 10-1)
7 P.M. at the Palestra
Game of the Week
BASKETBALL MATCHUPS: WEEK EIGHT
Cornell (12-13, 7-5) at
Brown (10-15, 3-8)
7 P.M. at Pizzitola Sports
Center
Brown's season hasn't been disappointing. The Bears shouldn't have expected
much this year given the talent they've lost to graduation. Next year could also be
a struggle, as they will have to learn about life without Jason Forte. Cornell knows
all about to adjusting to losing their point guard and they've done reasonably well in
Ka'Ron Barnes's absence. Graham Dow may be one of the most underappreciated
players in the League. Cornell will do reasonably well in Jason Forte's presence, too.
Dartmouth (10-15, 7-5)
at Princeton (13-12, 4-7)
7:30 P.M. at Jadwin Gym
Princeton is desperately trying to avoid making program history, and
Dartmouth couldn't care less. The Tigers have never suffered a losing sea-
son in the Ivy League, easily the longest streak in the conference. With one
win this weekend, Dartmouth's turnaround would be one game better than
Columbia's six-game turnaround last year. They've already handled the Ti-
gers once, 50-42, and they can handle them again. Princeton's defense has
been atrocious during the Ivy season, negating the Tigers' improved shoot-
ing. The whole team has been a stunning disappointment in Joe Scott's first
year. Unlike rival Penn, the Tigers have not been able to play 40 minutes of
consistent basketball at any point during this conference season. Princeton
has swept at least one weekend every year since 1956. A streak will end in
Princeton on Saturday.
Dartmouth has defeated every team in the Ivy League this season except the Quakers.
Featured Match-up
MIKE DILORENZO--STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Cornell (12-13, 7-5) at
Yale (9-15, 5-6)
7 P.M. at John J. Lee
Amphitheater
After years of underachieving, Cornell is finally doing better than they expected.
After years of underachieving, Yale is continuing to disappoint. James Jones' team
is the only Ivy team to have beaten League-leading Penn, but their effort level var-
ies, as evinced by their loss at home to Brown 10 days ago. It's the final home week-
end for a senior-laden team, which should be motivation enough. Besides, Cornell's
success is just a mirage created by a weak League.
Harvard (12-13, 7-5) at
Penn (17-8, 10-1)
7 P.M. at the Palestra
Harvard visits the Palestra a night after they play at Jadwin Gymnasium. Much has
been made of an alleged Penn or Princeton advantage. They're favored, it's said, be-
cause teams that play them on Saturdays have already been drained against the other
"P" on Fridays. Penn and Princeton have won because they've been the best teams in
the League, not because they play tired opponents in half their games. Harvard could
take a week off beforehand and still not beat the Quakers in Philadelphia..
Harvard (12-13, 7-5 Ivy)
at Princeton (13-12, 4-7)
7:30 P.M. at Jadwin Gym
The Tigers have swept Harvard and Dartmouth at home every year since
1989. That streak will not end on Friday. For all the offensive output of Matt
Stehle and Brian Cusworth, they seem to want their opponents to join them
in double figures as much as possible. Cusworth's defensive footwork is slow;
he gets away with it because of his albatross-like arms. Against Princeton's tal-
ented center duo of Judson Wallace and Mike Stevens, he'll be overmatched.
Princeton avenges one of its earlier losses.
Previewed
Matchup
Brown at
Columbia
7 P.M.
Levien Gym
Analysis by Thomas Boorstein
Looking back, I can't say that much has improved
since the day I arrived in Carman. Columbia has
had its ups--a great debut season for Joe Jones last
year in Levien Gym--and its downs, the sophomore
slump season of 2005. The coming of Shoop and the
return of Shoop. Of course, I am overlooking major
achievements in sports other than basketball and
football--in cross country and track, for instance.
But the fact is, I gauge this school's athletic prow-
ess by how it performs in these sports, especially
basketball. Why? Call me narrow-minded, but these
are the sports that most people care and want to
read about, the sports that represent our athletic
program.
To put it simply, I'm suffering from a lack of
faith. No longer can I hope for something that has
shown me no promise of coming true. Don't get
me wrong--I'll go to my grave a Columbia fan, but
maybe it's time to rethink what being a Columbia
fan really means. Does it mean constantly hoping
for an athletic renaissance? For the Lion to finally
become the king of the Ivy jungle? Or does it mean
being resilient--that is, being used to having hopes
and dreams shot down on a regular basis? I still
believe that being a fan at Columbia is a worthwhile
endeavor. It remains, in a strange reversal from
the outside world, a sort of counter-culture on this
campus. Being cool at Columbia is about doing the
everyday, average things, like rooting for ignored
athletic teams.
Nevertheless, I need a new reason to believe in
the future of Columbia athletics. Every fan should
hope for better results but, at least for me, hope is in
rare supply.
Indeed, things are not going so well these days
over at Dodge. Jones' cagers, after having taken
one giant step forward, have this season taken two
steps back and are now in danger of ending the year
with more Ivy losses than they incurred last season.
Meanwhile, the Athletic Department, headed by new
superstar Athletic Director Dr. M. Dianne Murphy,
continues to mishandle the Traci Waites disap-
pearance, refusing to shed light on a situation that
concerns all Light Blue faithful, not just the athletes.
The last thing I want people to do after read-
ing this is to resign themselves to hopelessness.
Keep being a fan; keep going to games and Jews
for Jones, keep screaming! All I'm saying is, I need
some help here...
Columbia, give me a reason to believe again!
LOTERY from back page
Knockin' On Kevin's Door appears on alternate Fridays.
Send any comments to sports@columbiaspectator.com
