Returning home after two humbling losses to power conference opponents on its Thanksgiving trip to Chicago, the Penn women’s basketball team finds itself entering December with a 0-5 record for the second straight season.
But under a new coach and a new program, these Quakers are convinced that despite the identical record, this year’s team is better than the last.
Penn (0-5) will be able to measure its progress tonight as it hosts Lafayette (1-6) at the Palestra at 7 p.m. Last year, the Leopards downed the Quakers 59-55 in overtime to drop Penn to 0-6 on the young season.
The Quakers are determined to prevent Lafayette from handing them a sixth straight loss — yet again.
Senior point guard Sarah Bucar, who was named to the Doubletree White Invitational All-Tournament team last weekend, knows that her squad is ready to face the Leopards.
“Iowa State and Northwestern were teams with several threats,” Bucar said. “So we’ve played teams that can score from every position on the court. We’re coming back with the mentality that we can compete with anyone on our schedule.”
With both teams scoring just over 40 points per game, surrendering around 61, and shooting close to 32 percent from the field, all signs point to tonight’s matchup coming down to the wire for a second straight year.
Senior guard Caitlin Slover acknowledged that the game will be won by the team that does the little things right.
“At practice we’ve been talking about sustaining our defensive intensity,” Slover said. “But we’ve also been struggling on the other side of the court, and we need to take advantage of the offensive boards and getting second chance points.”
The boards may be the difference in what is otherwise a close matchup on paper. Lafayette enters tonight’s contest with a glaring 16.1 rebounds per game deficit against its first seven opponents. The Quakers, meanwhile, have fared much better, managing only a 3.4 deficit.
To get the upper hand on the glass, the Quakers will need a full team effort. But that should not be a problem, as four different players have already led the team in rebounding through the first five games of the season.
Heading the Penn charge is junior forward Jerin Smith, with 2.2 offensive rebounds per game. Smith is already the team’s leading scorer with 10.2 points per game, and could be in line for a big day if the Quakers can control the glass.
If second chance points can cure the Quakers’ offensive woes, coach Mike McLaughlin said the team will be in good shape.
“We played great defense against two impressive schools last weekend,” McLaughlin said. “We did a lot of good things against them. We’ve been able to consistently defend at a high level every game.”
If the Quakers can match their defensive intensity with success from the field, the team may finally obtain its elusive first win of the season.
According to Bucar, winning will come down to mentality.
“We need to play with a will to win.” After a pause, she added “a will to win on both sides of the ball.”
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