Penn shooting to score at Palestra

After a difficult 1-14 start, the Penn women’s basketball team hopes to leave its shooting woes behind them when it hosts Yale (6-10, 1-1) and Brown (4-12, 1-1) in the first Ivy League weekend of the season.

According to coach Mike McLaughlin, the Quakers will need to overcome their inability to put the ball in the hoop.

“The flaw overall is that we haven’t scored the ball very much,” the first-year head coach said. “I think we’re executing some pretty good offense. We just need to shoot a higher percentage.”

The team averages only 45.1 points per game, with a 29.8 field goal percentage that the players have been working hard to improve.

“We dedicated an entire practice to shooting,” junior Jerin Smith said. “In other practices, we’ve been shooting so much more — it’s pretty much all about repetition.”

As a result, McLaughlin anticipates that the team will perform stronger than it has in its recent matches.

“My expectations are to compete and give ourselves a chance to win the game,” McLaughlin said.

While Penn will tailor its offensive gameplan towards Yale’s defensive philosophies in preparation for tonight’s matchup, the Bulldogs offense is likely to give the Quakers just as much trouble.

Yale’s leading scorer, freshman Megan Vasquez, averages 11.3 points per game. In contrast, Penn’s leading scorer, senior Sarah Bucar, averages 10.0.

“[Vasquez] can play the 1 and the 2, and she’s going to be a good Ivy League player,” McLaughlin said.

Another issue that the Quakers will have to deal with is Yale’s height. While Penn only has three players who measure at or above 6 feet, nine of Yale’s fifteen players hit that mark.

The Bulldogs’ roster includes 6-foot-2 Mady Gobrecht, one of the top rebounders in the Ivy League with 6.6 per game.

McLaughlin hopes his team can come out strong to set the tone for the weekend.

“We want to establish an identity,” he said. “Hopefully, we can start it off against Yale and carry it over Saturday against Brown.”

While the Bears may not have the same standout players as the Bulldogs, Brown has proven it can hold its own after splitting its two games with Yale.

With both teams running a strong fast break, the Quakers have stressed transition defense in practice this week.

“These teams transition the ball up and down the court, so we did some drills that would benefit us against both,” McLaughlin said.

Although Penn has struggled thus far, McLaughlin mentioned Sarah Bucar, Jess Knapp and Smith as players that could carry the team to conference success after a rough nonconference start.

“We’ve played a tough schedule, so we haven’t won a whole lot of games,” McLaughlin said. “I’m hoping we could put all the learning experiences from the other games into the Ivy League schedule so that we can find some success.”

“I’m excited to play on the home court,” Smith added. “Hopefully, we can get a win on our floor on this first Ivy League weekend.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.