With 4 in double digits, W. Hoops rolls

After stressing about the way his team has played the past week, maybe coach Pat Knapp can finally relax.

"It's a big difference a week makes," Knapp said.

The women's basketball team beat what sophomore guard Sarah Bucar called "a quality team" in Loyola-Maryland, 70-57 Sunday at the Palestra.

"We definitely needed that, especially since it was a home game," Bucar said.

Before taking down the Greyhounds, both Manhattan and Saint Joseph's had handed the Quakers (2-3) double-digit losses at home.

But the problems that plagued Penn in those home efforts seemed to dissipate.

Offensively, the Quakers showed excellent balance, with four players scoring in double digits.

"All we have done . since William and Mary is try to have positive possessions, knowing where we're supposed to be on offense, making the extra pass, getting the ball inside and relocating," Knapp said.

Junior Carrie Biemer has become more of a distributor as opposing defenses have begun clamping down on her. The rest of the squad has stepped up in response.

"We made our possessions count," Knapp said.

Knapp was also impressed that his team took care of the ball, only turning it over 12 times during the game.

Defensively, the Quakers also began clamping down. They held Loyola (2-3) to 30.2 percent shooting from the field and forced 17 turnovers.

"Defense has been something we have been concentrating on in practice," Bucar said.

The Quakers were solid with their three-point defense, holding Loyola to 4-for-15 from the field, including 0-for-7 in the second half.

"Coach really wanted us to start knowing who the shooters were, especially if we were switching out on them," sophomore Caitlin Slover said.

The Quakers, up by six at halftime, turned on the jets in the second half, shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

"We just really wanted to come out and bury them," Bucar said.

Penn, which led by as many as 15 points, also showed its poise by holding off a late Loyola charge.

"When they pressed us, we got three or four lay-ups in a row that stopped their momentum," Knapp said.

Now the Red and Blue have a win against a squad that has defeated other quality opponents, such as Drexel and Villanova.

"They've beaten teams that we are playing in the future, which gives us more confidence in those games," Bucar said.

Despite the win, however, Knapp was quick to note that his team is still very much a work in progress.

"It's the early part of the year," the coach said. "We have work to do. We have different combos getting used to each other. We're still learning to play together and execute together."

Given their performance against Loyola, however, maybe Knapp has a little less work on his hands than he originally thought.

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