Mano-A-Mano: Who needs to step up for Penn women's basketball in Ivy play?

Penn women’s basketball is sitting pretty right now at 10-5, having set a school record for nonconference wins. But, Ivy weekends are a whole different animal. Which Quakers player needs to show up the most during conference play? Sports Editor Ian Wenik and Associate Sports Editor Colin Henderson debate:

Associate Sports Editor Colin Henderson: As the Quakers enter Ivy League play, they will need to rely heavily on their senior captain and four-year star: guard Alyssa Baron.

Baron has the most experience of anyone on the team, having started every single game in her sterling three-and-a-half year collegiate career. She knows what it’s like to battle through Ivy League play.

With a new array of young weapons, Baron has taken on a new role this season, focusing less on scoring and more on distributing. But when Ivy play roles around, those young guns will be looking for her to carry the scoring load as she has done so many times in the past.

Sports Editor Ian Wenik: You hit the nail on the head right there, Colin. Young weapons. And who has been better this year than freshman sensation Sydney Stipanovich? It’s hard to imagine where Penn would be right now without her presence in the paint.

Forwards with Stipanovich’s credentials are rarities in the Ivy League, to say the least. 50 blocks in 15 games? That’s quite the impressive total.

The only knock you can really have against her is the fact that her shooting percentage from the field, .424 , is slightly lower than you would want it to be for such an imposing big. But I think that number will only go up as she adjusts to receiving starters’ minutes. After all, she’s only a freshman.

CH: Very true, Ian. There’s no doubt that Stipanovich has been a force all year and figures to be a big factor moving forward. But how can we know how she is going to react to the grueling nature of a full college season?

Furthermore, let us not forget that the attention given to Baron by other teams has been a major reason for the space that forwards like Stipanovich and Kara Bonenberger are getting down low.

The Ivies will all have seen the film on Penn’s forwards. They will definitely focus their defense down low, giving Baron the opportunity to take her shots and expand on her 13.1 points per game, which already leads the team. My guess is that coach Mike McLaughlin wouldn’t want it any other way.

IW: I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that all of the coaches in the Ivy League are about to forget about Baron’s presence on the wing any time soon. It’s pretty tough to suddenly stop game-planning against a woman with a scoring touch as deft as Baron’s.

And ultimately, that’s why I think Stipanovich is the most important player on the Penn roster to watch this Ivy season. After all, this is Baron’s last season as a member of the Red and Blue.

Stipanovich is standing at the forefront of the bright future that Mike McLaughlin has crafted. She’s the player that people used to think would never come to Penn in a million years. That’s not the case anymore. Alyssa Baron is a symbol of how far this program has come. Stipanovich is a symbol of the new heights it’s about to reach.

Verdict: Have to go with Colin here. Penn can’t go wrong with continuing to rely on its senior captain.