Penn tries to stop the slide

After matching last year’s win total in just three games, the women’s basketball team “got complacent,” senior captain Caroline Nicholson said.

As a result, the Quakers (2-5) enter their game against Maine on Friday sputtering on a four-game losing streak and still searching for that elusive third win.

Meanwhile, Maine (3-6) is currently mired in a five-game losing streak of its own.

In a matchup of two teams fighting to get back on track, Penn coach Mike McLaughlin is confident that his team is in a good position to win at the Palestra.

“I don’t see any question why we won’t come out stronger,” he said. “On our court, we know what’s at stake.”

McLaughlin and Nicholson both mentioned important, recent conversations the team has had about preventing opponents from going on early runs.

McLaughlin realizes that in the game of basketball, opponents will inevitably go on runs. His focus, however, is on damage control in those situations — the difference between allowing a 10-0 run compared to say, a 12-5 one.

“We’re not consistently scoring, so we have to really do a better job of trying to break runs — either through our defensive stops, or finding ways to score,” he said.

The Quakers often go basket-for-basket with other teams, Nicholson said — so when they give up these early runs, it is difficult to get back in the game.

“Essentially, we need to be the aggressor,” she said. “That’s the game plan on Friday.”

McLaughlin said that his team is struggling most in post play. In Penn’s last two losses — against Army and St. Joseph’s — the Quakers have been outscored 50-30 in the paint.

The coach, however, didn’t single out a specific player that needs to improve her interior scoring, adding that he is content with “whoever wants to step up.”

Nicholson feels she can fill that role.

“I’m looking to get rebounds, and get put backs and essentially score for the team because that’s what Coach [McLaughlin] asked me to do — and that’s what I need to do,” she said.

In the past few practices, the team has focused on taking better care of the ball — Penn has averaged 16.5 turnovers over its four-game losing streak — and being more aggressive.

“I think it’s about coming out with energy and fire,” Nicholson said. “We haven’t had that in the past couple of games, but we’re demanding that from everybody now.”

After Friday, the team has nearly three weeks before its next game, but the Quakers are ready to end their losing streak sooner rather than later.

“We pretty much expect greatness from everybody and we’re holding them to that standard now,” Nicholson said. “Since we’re doing that, we can go into Friday’s game and really be on top of our game to pull out a win.”

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