Huskies await as Penn women's basketball readies for NCAA Tournament

The Quakers fought tooth and nail to emerge victorious from a historically competitive Ivy League. Now they need to get through the rest — and the best — of the nation.

Penn women’s basketball (24-4, 13-1 Ivy) will head to College Park, Md., on Saturday to face Washington (22-10, 11-7 Pac-12) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Red and Blue will be making their fourth tournament appearance and are hoping to land their first-ever win. Penn’s last appearance came in 2014, when the team got off to a fast start against Texas but faltered as the game wore on. Penn’s spot as a 10-seed is its highest ranking ever.

The seventh-seeded Huskies are making their 18th appearance and their second in a row. Washington is 15-17 all-time at the Dance and made the Elite Eight in 1990 and 2001. The Huskies are led by junior guard Kelsey Plum, who ranks third in the nation in scoring with 26.2 points per game.

From here on out, it’s do-or-die for every team in the field. But the Quakers aren’t letting the win-or-go-home format throw them off their game.

“I talked about this all year with the team. If you [always] value everything that’s in front of you, and the game in front of you as the most important game, you won’t have to retrain your body, change things for this game,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said.

“Obviously, we understand, if you win you go, if not you don’t. But I think consistency with this team, the way we do things, they’ve really adapted to it, they really like it. I don’t think we’re gonna add anything different. We might add plays differently, but we’re not gonna have the way we do things any different, regardless of what is at stake.”

While the Quakers seem to be handling the pressure well, something else will take a big jump on Saturday: The quality of Penn’s opponent. Washington is a top team in a power conference and is certainly an imposing foe for the Red and Blue. But the Ivy League champs aren’t easily intimidated.

“We’re a very good team,” sophomore forward Michelle Nwokedi said. “Playing against Duke that first weekend, and playing Colorado State, who only lost once all season — and to us — showed that we can play with anyone. We’re going in [to this] as if it’s any regular game.”

“We’re focused on us and what we have to do well. We’re focused on our offense and our defense,” junior guard Kasey Chambers said.

Washington, in turn, isn’t taking the Quakers lightly.

“It was really easy not to underestimate Penn, we just [watched] a little bit of film and they got our respect really quick,” Washington coach Mike Neighbors said. “The only place we’re going to be favored is on the seed line in my opinion. You’re talking about a team that won the conference championship in a year when their league was as good as its ever been, as evidenced by [the Ivy League] getting that at-large bid for the first time in history.”

Neighbors is also wary of his counterpart.

“I don’t throw the term ‘well-coached’ out very often. It’s something that’s gotta be earned over time. But I certainly think his teams are well-coached, their players play their roles to perfection, and they’re clearly identified. That’s one of the signs of having a well-coached team.”

With the game being played in Maryland, the Quakers might have one small edge: They have a two-hour bus trip, while the Huskies must fly across the nation to get to the game. The Red and Blue will have a less burdensome commute, and a larger fanbase at the game once they get there.

“I think we’ll get a lot of support, which will mean a lot to us. This whole season we’ve had so much support, and that was awesome,” sophomore guard Lauren Whitlatch said.

“It’s definitely nice to be close, that’s what we wanted,” junior center Sydney Stipanovich said. “But I feel like if we were to fly across the country, we’d still have the same mindset.”

But Neighbors isn’t worried that the long journey will cause his team to come out flat.

“I know we’re gonna come in prepared,” Neighbors said of his Washington team. “I can’t tell you how we’re gonna play, but we’re gonna be prepared.”

Penn will have a real chance to pick up the first NCAA Tournament win in program history this Saturday. If they do, they’ll move on to face the winner between No. 2 Maryland and No. 15 Iona (read: Maryland). If not, the season will end, but the memories will carry over into next year and well beyond.

“Being able to play in the tournament is such an amazing experience we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Stipanovich, the lone rotation player remaining from the last tournament team, said. “I’m excited to get back to it.”

“It’s a dream come true. And the fact that it’s come true, I can’t even describe the feeling,” Chambers said.

And the only way for the Quakers to keep the season going is to keep doing the same thing that got them this far: Winning.

“We deserve to be here, we’ve earned the right to be here,” McLaughlin said. “Now we’re gonna go out there and play the game the way we’ve done all year.”

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