All hands on deck for Penn women's basketball with Keiera Ray out

Adversity is something Penn women’s basketball is used to.

In Penn’s third game of the 2012-13 season, the Quakers lost their starting point guard — then-junior guard Meghan McCullough — for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

But luckily for the Red and Blue, freshman Keiera Ray stepped up into McCullough’s role and flourished, helping the team to a winning record.

Yet this season, the roles are reversed.

Ray, now a sophomore, is the one injured and will miss the first month of Penn’s season.

“She’s been practicing with us,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “But she hasn’t been cleared to go live with contact yet.”

So it will be up to McCullough and others to carry the load at the start of the season. And by all accounts, McCullough is ready for the extra minutes.

“When you are dealing with Meghan, you are dealing with trust,” McLaughlin said. “There’s a girl that will do everything that’s asked of her. She’ll play whatever role and she’s always been that way.

“It won’t be a huge transition. She just has that knack for getting the group together.”

While McCullough will likely be taking the bulk of the minutes at point guard, Ray’s injury gives other players like freshman Melanie Lockett a chance to take a bigger role.

“I think it’s always a positive when someone gets to play,” McLaughlin said. “They can learn from what they’ve done.

“I think [Melanie] will come out and succeed. She’s got the natural ability to do well so it can only help her, especially if she has early success.”

And Lockett is ready for the beginning of the season as she begins her collegiate career.

“I’m excited. I like it when people don’t really expect a lot of me from another team, so I just want to go and bring energy to the court,” Lockett said.

While McCullough and others are holding down the fort in Ray’s absence, the sophomore guard will also need to adjust to a different offensive look from the Red and Blue when she returns.

“There’s a lot more focus on the guards looking to go inside-out just because we do have such a strong post presence,” junior guard Kathleen Roche said.

With Penn’s guards taking on more of a distributing role, the frontcourt will also be expected to step up on the offensive end with Ray not in the lineup.

“We added depth to the post position this year, so hopefully that will offset [Ray’s absence] so that the point guard won’t need to score as much as a year ago,” McLaughlin said.

The group is well-equipped to carry the load. The Quakers return starting forwards Kara Bonenberger and Katy Allen return along with senior captain Courtney Wilson.

Also added to the frontcourt depth is freshman Sydney Stipanovich. The 6-foot-3 center will help give the Red and Blue a height advantage over many opponents, making Penn imposing both in the post and on defense.

“We also have bigger guards, so we’re not an undersized team,” Roche said. “Rebounding is always a point of emphasis for us and I think if we play a zone, it will be tough for teams to rip through the zone since we have hands everywhere.”

For now, Penn seems like it is ready to move forward without Ray for the first month thanks to the team’s overall depth.

“I think [our depth is] what will separate us from other teams,” Roche said. “We have three or four people at each position that can really compete.”

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