Slow starts stall Penn

The Penn women’s basketball team capped its six-game winter break slate with a 57-40 loss to Big 5 rival Saint Joseph’s yesterday and enters the second semester with just one game remaining before embarking on the bulk of its Ivy campaign.

Despite picking up their first win of the season and playing stretches of encouraging basketball, the Quakers (1-13, 0-1 Ivy) were repeatedly unable to overcome slow starts and poor shooting on their way to a 1-5 mark over the break.

Against the Hawks, sophomore Jess Knapp did her best to keep the Quakers close early. But after scoring Penn’s first nine points and pulling the Quakers to a 9-9 tie at 14:31, the Hawks took over, embarking on a 17-4 run.

The loss, which dropped Penn to 1-34 all-time against St. Joe’s and 0-3 in the Big 5, was a fitting end to an overall lackluster two weeks of play.

The Quakers began their post-semester schedule with a 60-48 loss to Mount St. Mary’s at the Palestra Dec. 29.

Penn trailed 12-2 nine minutes into the first half after missing 10 of its first 11 shots. The tea was never able to recover. In spite of a season-high nine blocks — three each from junior center Caroline Nicholson and sophomore forward Jourdan Banks — the Quakers were doomed by 26.7 percent shooting from the field.

Yet Penn bounced back to defeat St. Francis (N.Y.), 52-48 in a New Year’s Eve matinee.

The team jumped out to a 31-19 halftime lead behind the strength of a 19-3 run that was capped by a Jerin Smith jumper. The junior finished with her first career double-double, adding a career-high 12 boards to an 11 point day.

Despite letting St. Francis climb back into the game with a late 10-0 run, Penn was able to hold off the Terriers (1-10) with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.

“We had 17 days where we didn’t have a game,” sophomore forward Jess Knapp said. “So we were obviously ready for [St. Francis]. Getting our first win was huge, and it showed, because the practices following that game were the best that we’ve had all year. “

The Quakers, however, were unable to build off the victory. They were once again plagued by a slow start when they visited La Salle, with the Explorers storming out to an early 16-4 advantage. La Salle (5-9, 1-1 Big 5) would go on to put up 41 points by the half and went on to win convincingly, 67-51.

But the Red and Blue rebounded once again. Although they ultimately lost 66-51 to defending Patriot League champion Lehigh (13-2) at the Palestra Jan. 5, they registered what coach Mike McLaughlin considered their best game of the season.

Junior Kim Adams and senior Sarah Bucar led Penn with 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Knapp pulled down 14 rebounds, six of which were off of the offensive glass. But despite holding the Mountain Hawks to just 35.5 percent shooting overall, Lehigh pulled away late to notch its 13th win.

“On the offensive end, on the defensive end, we really worked hard against them,” McLaughlin said. “We didn’t win, but it shows we’re really making progress right now.”

But the Quakers once again reverted to old habits in their Ivy opener against Princeton. The Tigers (13-2, 1-0 Ivy) ran away with the game early, as they grabbed an 18-4 lead on their way to a 39-18 halftime advantage. After establishing a 30-point lead five minutes into the second half, Princeton closed out the Quakers, handing them their fifth-straight loss in an Ivy opener.

And though this year’s 1-13 start has shown that McLaughlin is still far from restoring success to the Penn program, his squad will have a chance to take a large step forward when they start the rest of Ivy play.

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