Women's basketball up-and-down in win over Rider

Penn women’s basketball was cruising Saturday afternoon. The Quakers’ shots were falling, their defense was creating turnovers and they were taking care of the ball.

Up by 23 at the half, Penn struggled after the break, but had enough firepower to pull out a victory against Rider, 66-57.

“I thought we were really good the first half on both ends of the court,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “Great shot selection, played with a great will and really came out the way this team will hopefully play every time. I think what happened in the second half is Rider played well and we got a little bit choppy.”

After a closer than expected overtime win against St. Francis in the season opener, Penn (2-0) jumped out to a 12-2 lead highlighted by two Alyssa Baron three-pointers and another from freshman Renee Busch.

Penn continued to dominate the flow of the game, as midway through the first half the Quakers drew two successive charge fouls, and Baron hit a step-back three. She finished with a game-high 30 points.

With a little over six minutes left, even junior Brianna Bradford joined in on the act. The guard broke down the defense and scored on a nifty spin move in the lane to put the Quakers ahead by 20 points.

“We were very composed and executing our plays very well,” Bradford said. “We were looking to push the ball in transition and [we] were very fluid.”

Penn maintained the pressure and forced Rider into 12 turnovers during the first 20 minutes. After the intermission, however, it would be the Quakers feeling the pressure.

Broncs sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie opened the half with a three and an off-balance runner in the lane to begin to chip away at the lead. Some sloppy play from both sides ensued, and Rider tried to force the issue by pressing the Quakers, who easily broke it, resulting in two easy layups for freshman forward Kara Bonenberger.

However, six minutes later, Rider returned to the press with more success. With 5:31 left, Rider forward Caitlin Bopp scored on a layup, and a steal by Broncos guard Sironda Chambers off the full-court pressure led to another quick basket.

“[The first time] we had good spacing and later in the half we started catching the ball too low to baseline and then we were trapped,” McLaughlin said. “I think that’s an area we can improve.”

Despite the slight dip in form, the Red and Blue turned in a gutsy performance down the stretch and came away with a confidence-boosting win.

“Two years ago, we [had] two wins in the whole season, so here we are 2-0 in the beginning,” senior forward Jess Knapp said. “We’ve been using every opportunity to learn and move forward.”

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