Ghosh | Penn women's basketball setting stage for future success

The potential is there.

For half of Tuesday night’s game against Princeton, we saw the team that Penn women’s basketball can become.

The Quakers led by one with less than 10 minutes remaining against the first-place Tigers — and then reality set back in.

The box score will show another double-digit win for Princeton, but Penn outscored the Tigers, 30-17, in the middle 20 minutes of the game.

Whether or not the Quakers’ resume is ultimately strong enough to earn them a postseason bid, they still have plenty of momentum going into next season. The key for the Red and Blue will be to turn their flashes of brilliance into sustained excellence.

Continuity should be a huge advantage for the Quakers heading into next season, as they will only graduate two players — and no starters — this year. Princeton, on the other hand, will graduate four of tonight’s five starters.

Coming back for her swan song next season will be leading scorer junior Alyssa Baron.

Baron’s scoring average took a dip this season but she is shooting at the highest percentage of her career. Meanwhile, her rebounding and assists numbers have been up in each of the past two years.

“She’s becoming the full package, and I think at the end of next year you’re going to see that complete player,” coach Mike McLaughlin said.

Baron will continue to have help in the backcourt from freshman guard Keiera Ray. Ray’s 31-point performance in Penn’s home win against Harvard showed she can take over against top Ivy teams.

Sophomore Kara Bonenberger is fresh off a double-double against Yale, while junior Meghan McCullough, who was penciled in as the starting point guard before the season began, will return next season from a torn ACL.

That also doesn’t include the countless role players that will be returning and the possibility of the emergence of another freshman like Ray this year.

The Palestra has also emerged this season as a tough destination for any Ivy opponent. Penn finished 5-2 at home this season, including a signature win over second-place Harvard.

The flashes of brilliance have taken a two-win team and turned it into a third-place team after only three years. But to take that final step to be a title contender, the Quakers still have room to grow.

One place to begin for the Red and Blue is to bring their end-of-game intensity to the opening tip.

After the Princeton game, Baron talked about the team’s resiliency in the face of adversity, a trait that will serve them well in the future.

But all three of Penn’s most recent losses followed a similar script: the Quakers dig themselves a big hole, then play brilliantly to close the gap — only to fall short when they run out of steam.

That being said, the future is bright for the Quakers.

Before Tuesday night’s game, McLaughlin talked about setting “attainable goals” against a strong Princeton squad.

Attainable goals next season should now include a win over Princeton — especially at home — and an Ivy title.

TIM GHOSH is a junior finance and computer science major from Rochester, N.Y. He can be reached at dpsports@theDP.com.

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