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Women's Hoops St. Joe's Credit: Kai Tang

After crushing Maine, 69-48, Friday, the Penn women’s basketball team enters winter break in a much different position than it did last season.

At this time a year ago, Penn (3-5) had yet to win a single game in eight tries.

Despite suffering a four-game losing streak, this year’s Red and Blue have more wins under their belt than they did all of last season.

One month into the 2010-11 schedule, Penn has been improved play on both ends of the court.

The Quakers have outrebounded opponents by 3.9 this season, a nearly complete reversal of last season’s -3.7 rebounding margin.

“I think the commitment to rebound [is] a lot stronger,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “The post players are doing a good job putting a body on someone. I think that is where we’ve shown the most progress.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the infusion of new players has been a huge boost. Freshman Alyssa Baron has averaged more minutes (32.9) than any other player thus far. She also leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. Fellow classmate Meghan McCullough has also made an early impact — she leads the Quakers in assists.

McLaughlin, however, does not want any emphasis to be placed on the age of his team.

“This is not a freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior thing with them,” he said. “It’s who we think is going to put us in the best position to win.”

Despite these improvements, the Quakers’ winter-break regimen will continue to be just as intense as in previous seasons.

The women have just five days off for winter break, before returning on Dec. 26 in preparation for a matchup against St. Francis (1-6) on the 29th.

“I think the main focus is to keep them sharp and keep them conditioned,” McLaughlin said.

The second-year Penn coach received his first victory with the Quakers against St. Francis last year.

The cards are in Penn’s favor again this year, as the Terriers earned their first win of the season just yesterday.

After the trip to Brooklyn Heights, Penn will then move on to face Lafayette (5-5) on Jan. 2 in Easton, Pa. The Leopards have momentum of their own going into this matchup, as they are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

In order to catch the Leopards, McLaughlin plans to focus on improving the team’s scoring opportunities.

“We can score a little more in transition and score around the basket more efficiently,” he said.

The Red and Blue will then kick off their Ivy season against reigning Ancient Eight champion Princeton (6-2), which boasts the best record in the League, on Jan. 8.

However, McLaughlin is focusing on short-term goals before thinking about Ivy play.

“Hopefully a lot of these non-league games prepare us for our Ivy schedule,” McLaughlin said. “[But] I think at this point, it’s a little far away for us. We just have to get better every day to give us a chance to win.”

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