They say history has a tendency to repeat itself. Hopefully for Penn women’s hoops, this will hold true.
On Friday and Saturday, the Red and Blue (14-7, 5-2 Ivy) will indeed try to repeat history as they take on Harvard and Dartmouth for the second time this season.
When the Quakers traveled North to take on the Crimson (10-12, 3-5) and the Big Green (11-11, 2-6) earlier in the year, they emerged from the grueling road trip with two victories.
This weekend at the Palestra, the Red and Blue will attempt to notch two more W’s — wins that are essential if they want to keep pace with undefeated No. 16 Princeton in the Ivy League race.
Despite the significance of the games this weekend, the team remains focused on the things it can control — namely playing one game at a time.
“I think our goal is the game that’s in front of us,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “Our goals are to compete, and hopefully, we do enough to give ourselves a chance.”
Although Penn retains sole possession of second place in the Ivy League, in order to catch the first-place Tigers, the Red and Blue will need help from another member of the Ancient Eight. Because the Quakers are two games out of first place, Penn needs the Tigers to do something they haven’t done since the end of 2013-14: lose.
Nevertheless, sophomore forward Sydney Stipanovich echoed her coach’s sentiments about concentrating on the game at hand.
“We are just really focusing on us,” Stipanovich said. “We have to play the Penn way.”
And for the Quakers, playing “the Penn way” means getting everybody involved in the game on both ends of the floor. Offensively, when the team has scored more than 60 points under McLaughlin, it is 56-9, including 29-straight regular season wins.
Defense has proved equally important, as the Quakers are 16-53 when their opponents score more than 60 points.
One player that has blossomed both offensively and defensively this season is freshman forward Michelle Nwokedi. After recently earning the starting job, Nwokedi’s numbers have been off the charts, leading the team in scoring for the past four games. This week, she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season and second consecutive week.
Stipanovich praised Nwokedi along with the Quakers’ pair of freshman guards — Beth Brzozowski and Anna Ross — for their hard work and quick transition to the faster pace of college play.
“When they came in, we all knew they were great players, and they have adjusted really quickly,” the sophomore said. “They are helping us out a lot, and we are really proud of them.”
McLaughlin agreed with Stipanovch and recognized the importance of continued good play from the freshmen moving forward in to the second half of Ivy play.
“They put in the time,” he said. “They have gotten opportunities, and they seized the opportunity.”
Facing Harvard and Dartmouth, two teams that will be gunning for revenge, the Quakers know they will face stiff competition, but they are ready for a battle.
“We know what to expect,” Stipanovich said. “They are going to play a hard 40 minutes, and we have to outplay them for those 40 minutes.”
If the Red and Blue are able to sweep the weekend, it will mark their third straight winning season — just another clue that history might be well on its way to repeating itself.
