Penn women's hoops displays post strength in Red & Blue scrimmage

In a change of pace for the Red and Blue, on Saturday morning at the Palestra, it was the Red … vs. the Blue.

The annual Red and Blue scrimmage for Penn women’s basketball took place on Saturday with fans getting their first glimpse of the 2013-14 Quakers.

The Red team blew out the Blue squad, defeating them by 20 points.

During the game, the Quakers showed off a group of five freshmen for the first time, although first-year forward Sade Gibbons was one of two players who did not play in the scrimmage (the other was sophomore guard Keiera Ray).

Freshman center Sydney Stipanovich was a significant contributor for the Red squad (which wore white pinnies), scoring 10 points in the first half while consistently hitting mid-range jumpers.

On one sequence in the second half, Stipanovich blocked a shot on one end before finishing with a layup on a fast break at the other end, displaying her abilities in just her first game.

“She’s been good all preseason. She’s been good in practice,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “She is going to play a huge role obviously as you saw today.

“She can shoot the ball from the perimeter, she can score the ball around the rim. She is very unselfish. I’m really happy where she has progressed right now.”

While the freshmen were making their Red and Blue debut, others were making a long-awaited return to the court. The scrimmage saw the return of senior point guard Meghan McCullough, who missing all but three games last season due to a torn ACL.

The senior guard provided some solid defense in the scrimmage, as she picked up multiple while also running the point admirably by dishing out multiple assists.

“Meghan has been great. You can’t even tell she had an ACL injury,” McLaughlin said. “Same energy, same level of professional play. She just makes the right play at the right time.

“Of all the kids I’ve seen come back from an ACL injury, she really hasn’t missed a beat.”

The star offensively in the game was junior forward Katy Allen, who paced the Red squad with 15 points while displaying a strong post presence.

Meanwhile, two guards – freshman Melanie Lockett and junior Renee Busch – led the offensive attack for the Blue team, scoring a combined 18 points.

However, senior captain Alyssa Baron struggled offensively, ultimately tallying more fouls than points in the short scrimmage. Despite her performance in the scrimmage, Baron will still be an important part of the Quakers’ 13-14 season as she begins her second year as captain.

“I think she realizes that she has some help with Sydney inside and a little more depth in the post position,” McLaughlin said. “I think she’ll fill right in. When we start here in two weeks, I think she’ll look to score the ball a little bit more.”

While the respective teams were coached by assistant coaches Lauren Laukitis and Chris Day, McLaughlin’s presence was seen on both sidelines, calling out plays and helping make substitutions.

On both sides, the Quakers switched between multiple defenses, primarily showing man-to-man defense along with a 2-3 zone.

“We don’t have a whole lot in yet, so we need to get a better understanding of what we want,” McLaughlin said. “Some of the freshmen, as usual, take a little bit of time in developing into what we want to do and how we want to do it.

“In about two weeks, we have to put a few more things in and we’re going to have to have all 15 players capable of running it.”