For the second straight weekend, Penn women’s basketball had a successful doubleheader. This time, the Red and Blue got to set a record in the process.
The Quakers won, 71-61, over Harvard on Friday night at the Palestra before cruising to a 63-46 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday. Penn (16-7, 7-2 Ivy) has now won five in a row, and eight of its last nine.
The triumph on Friday was the 68th career win for seniors Kathleen Roche, Kara Bonenberger, Renee Busch and Katy Allen, breaking the win total record for a class they had previously shared with the graduating class of 2003. Bonenberger was also honored before the game for scoring her 1000th career point earlier this month.
“It feels really great,” Roche said after scoring 14 points en route to the victory over the Crimson (10-14, 3-7). “I had no idea we were that close, so when they told me after the game, yeah, it makes me smile.”
“It’s awesome for them,” coach Mike McLaughlin added. “It shows that they were perseverant, they won, they challenged themselves, they improved, they were consistent.
“It’s an amazing feat. There’s 40 years of basketball here, and to be able to be that class, it’s really special.”
The two wins also put McLaughlin over .500 in Ivy play for the first time in his career. With his Ivy record now at 40-39, McLaughlin — who holds the distinction of being the fastest coach to reach 400 wins at any level in the history of women’s collegiate basketball — was dismissive of his personal record.
“Well, I don’t keep count of that,” McLaughlin said, laughing when told of the new statistic. “But yeah, anytime we can take a step forward ... I won one game in the Ivy League my first year ... [so] I always tell them: ‘We’ll add it all up at the end. We’ll look back at it at the end.’”
The Crimson kept things close with the Red and Blue throughout the first half on Friday, but Penn came out of the locker room hot after the break. The Quakers buried Harvard, who mustered a small late rally to make the final score respectable but never really made the Red and Blue sweat down the stretch.
Penn got a fantastic effort from its forwards in the victory, as freshman Michelle Nwokedi had 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, while sophomore Sydney Stipanovich added 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
“Katy [Allen] had some really good passes. I think just as a team we moved the ball more,” Stipanovich said. “Being patient, not rushing, I’ve been trying to work on that, but I think the main thing was just ball movement, and hitting the open player.”
Saturday’s win was even more convincing. The Quakers played suffocating defense, stealing the ball 15 times and holding the Big Green (11-13, 2-8) to 34 percent shooting. On the other end, Penn decimated Dartmouth from long range, shooting 9-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Freshman Anna Ross directed the offense well, dishing out a career-high eight assists. Busch was often the beneficiary of Penn’s excellent ball-movement – the senior drained five threes and had a season-high 17 points in 22 minutes off the pine.
“When you’re on the bench, you have to be focused at all times,” Busch – who also had three steals – said after the game. “Coach always says you have to be ready for all 40 minutes. You never know when your name is going to be called. Tonight I got a good run.”
With the wins, Penn held its grip on second place in the Ancient Eight this weekend and moved closer to securing a postseason bid. The Quakers will be home again next weekend when they take on Brown and Yale.
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