December can't come soon enough for the women's basketball team. And no, it's not because of Christmas.
After going 0-5 in November, a change in the calendar might be just what the doctor ordered.
The Quakers start their December schedule tonight at Lafayette (1-5). The Red and Blue, who sit at the bottom of the Ivy League, will face a Leopards team that suffered an 11-point loss to Marist on Monday night.
According to Penn coach Pat Knapp, if the Leopards had defeated the Red Foxes, he and his squad would have "a whole different team on our hands."
The Leopards may have lost the momentum they gained from their Nov. 29 win against Texas-Pan American, but certain individuals are still moving full speed ahead. Senior Cristin Zavocki improved on her career-high 15 points against Texas-Pan American with 21 against Marist.
The Quakers have her on their radar.
"We know who she is," senior guard Kelly Scott said. "We're gonna make sure we get out on her."
Zavocki's big strength is three-point shooting, but the Quakers have done well against the three, yielding only 33.7 percent from deep, including 27.3 against Big 5 rival Villanova.
"Defending Lafayette will be key," coach Pat Knapp said. "We'll do a better job of it this year, I'm confident."
If they want to improve on last year's 71-56 loss to the Leopards, the Quakers must also take care of the ball. At the Palestra last season the Quakers committed 19 turnovers, leading to 23 Lafayette points.
The Red and Blue have practiced holding onto the ball in a two-minute drill at the end of every practice recently. The drill is designed to hone in on the specific skills that will help the Quakers keep control of the ball.
"One turnover can't turn into three," Knapp said.
In addition to avoiding turnovers, Knapp has his squad focused on rebounding. In Penn's game at Mount St. Mary's Saturday, Scott notched a career-high eight rebounds and will look to build on that performance tonight.
The Quakers need to rebound the ball and their season, especially on the road. The Red and Blue have lost by an average of 25.3 points in opponents' gyms-significantly higher than their combined eight-point deficit in two losses at the Palestra.
Knapp, however, has not read too far into this strange statistic.
"We should get an extra bump of adrenaline for being at home," he said, "but we should not fear anything on the road."
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