Better late than never.
To cap off a trying season, the Penn women's basketball team finally found some measure of consistency over spring break.
The Red and Blue traveled to the Empire State on March 7. There, they lost to eventual Ivy champion Cornell, 73-58 on Friday night and beat Columbia 74-71 on Saturday.
They closed out the season at the Palestra last Tuesday with an impressive 85-78 win over rival Princeton.
"A frustrating year? Yes. But I'm very happy with how the team responded the last couple of weeks," coach Pat Knapp said. "It would have been nice if we had those kind of results the whole season, but there were mitigating circumstances."
Most of those "mitigating circumstances" involved injuries throughout the course of the season to players.
"We had to go to Plan B about five times this season," Knapp said.
But with the team finally somewhat healthy, it played closer to its own expectations over spring break.
Point guard Sarah Bucar has struggled all season, but finally found her rhythm in these final games.
Bucar had a quiet game against Cornell, but was spectacular against Columbia (8-for-10, 21 points, five rebounds) and solid against the Tigers (18 points, four assists, six boards).
Her coach pointed to the fact that the West Virginia transfer has had to contend with running a team that was constantly in flux.
"We had a lot of different combinations out on the floor," Knapp said. "She wasn't exactly working with the same people all season."
It wasn't only Bucar who stepped up her playing over break. Guards Carrie Biemer and Kim Adams - a second-team All-Ivy pick and an Ivy League rookie team selection, respectively - also stepped up in the final two games.
"My coaches told me to be a leader," Biemer said. "As an upperclassman, I had to set the tone. I think I tried to lead by example, and it worked out well for me."
Biemer also said that a main difference was that the Quakers "were finally able to realize what we could do as a team."
They were able to get out in transition and score easy baskets against Columbia and Princeton, and that added to the team's momentum and confidence.
But what's giving Biemer the most confidence is that the team's core is staying intact next year.
"We've really gained an appreciation for each other off the court," she said. "And we're playing more like we thought we could now. I think that will continue into next season."
