‘Better luck next year,’ was a phrase the women’s basketball team was beginning to hear this time last year.
After losing to all seven of their Ivy League opponents, the Quakers looked doomed to not only finish in last place but to struggle in future seasons.
This prediction was echoed by the 2010-11 Preseason Media Poll, which forecasted another last place finish for the Quakers, 20 points below next-best Cornell.
However, fresh off a dominant Ivy sweep against Cornell and Columbia last weekend, in which the Quakers (9-12, 3-4 Ivy) won by a margin of 18 and 20 points respectively, it’s clear that this is not the same team as last year.
Now, the Red and Blue head into the second half of their Ivy season boasting the best turnaround in program history and climbing the standings to number five in the league with three conference wins.
As Penn heads into its second run of the Ivy gauntlet this weekend against Brown (7-15, 3-5) and Yale (10-12, 6-2), the Quakers hope to continue to prove they are a team that the rest of the League should not have written off.
Penn dominated against Brown earlier this year, earning its first Ivy win of the season in a 52-32 victory. However, Yale bewildered the Quakers, as they fell in a 53-44 loss.
Senior Caroline Nicholson felt that the Quakers struggled to keep up their stamina against Yale.
With seven minutes to play and the Quakers trailing by six, Penn allowed Yale to score the next five baskets and didn’t get within five points for the rest of the game.
“We’ve learned how to play 40 minutes of really good basketball,” Nicholson said. “Everybody knows their roles, and everyone’s willing to step up.”
Key to the Quakers’ success this season has been the team’s five freshmen — especially standout Alyssa Baron, who scored a career-high 38 points against Harvard. In the second round of Ivy play, however, there may be a closer watch on the freshman guard.
Though Baron was held to 10 points against Cornell and eight against Columbia last weekend, coach Mike McLaughlin doesn’t seem to be too concerned.
“She’s just going to have to continue doing what she’s been doing,” McLaughlin said. “When you’re the leading scorer that happens, [and] she’ll develop from there, but she’ll be fine.
“We have a lot in this program we want to do,” McLaughlin added. “Hopefully [we] compete and have a chance to win.”
