The women’s basketball team is starting 2011 feeling very confident about its upcoming Ivy League schedule.
The Quakers, who won just one conference game last year, hung with rival Princeton — favorites to win the Ivy title for the second year in a row — Saturday night.
The Red and Blue came out fighting and had the game tied at halftime. But Princeton opened the second half with an 18-0 run and while the Quakers cut the lead to seven in the final minutes, they fell, 56-45.
While the team started conference play with a loss, the intensity and energy that the women showed constitute a moral victory, coach Mike McLaughlin said.
“I liked the way we came out with the purpose to win the basketball game,” he said. “We came up short, but as we go through league play, every game we’re going to believe that we can win.”
Sophomore Brianna Bradford, who McLaughlin said was the “key to our second half,” helped get the game back within reach. She had 14 points in 15 minutes of play and was 5-of-5 from the field.
Bradford believes intensity was essential to her team’s success against Princeton, which topped Penn by a combined 138-90 in two games last season.
“When we pick each other up, especially on defense, and play a very intense game, that gives us sparks to score on offense,” she said.
The loss to Princeton snapped a three-game win streak, the team’s first since the end of the 2008-09 season. The run was especially promising for the women considering they didn’t win three games all of last season.
Before continuing Ivy play, the team faces a tough four-game slate, including three games against Big 5 opponents at home. The Quakers take on Villanova (7-8) tonight at the Palestra.
McLaughlin said his team must be tough both mentally and physically to have opportunities to win these close games.
“Our players must continue to believe that we can find ways to win,” he said.
While McLaughlin said he came out to beat Princeton — not just play them tough — he expressed pride in his team for putting up a good fight against a heavily favored team.
“Even though we lost, we’re still very confident that we’re going to come out and play everyone as hard as we can,” he said of the remaining two months.
Bradford echoed his sentiments.
“We ran with Princeton very well, and I think we’re going to do the same with everybody else,” she said.
