Big 5 Women’s Basketball Preview: Can the Quakers bounce back?

This past season, the Penn women’s basketball team fell short of its ultimate goal of winning the Ivy championship, but the campaign was certainly not without its highlights and positives. The most notable was the team’s upset of Princeton during Ivy Madness because The much-discussed foul decision in the final moments of the matchWhile this call was devastating for the fans, it is proof that there is hope for the Quakers’ ability to fight until the last second.

Much of the Quakers’ success was due to then-freshman guard Mataya Gayle, who not only led his team to Ivy Madness but also earned both Ivy League and Big 5 Rookie of the Year honors. After Gayle showed such talent in his rookie season, we can only expect to see growth next year. Another talented first year for the Red and Blue is Penn, who earned two Ivy Rookie of the Week honors The win over Harvard that clinched Ivy Madness.

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While there is a lot of potential in the young players, it is also important to discuss who the team lost. The team graduated three seniors, most notably Obi Jordan, A forward who captained the team and became the 25th player to reach 1,000 points in Penn women’s basketball. Obi transferred to Kentucky to complete his final year of eligibilityA strong player on the court and a leader on the team, her presence will be missed, but the Quakers retained other experienced players from last season, including last season’s leading scorer, forward Stina Almqvist.

Now that the Big 5 fixtures have been announced, let’s take a look at what we can expect from each matchup.

November 15th vs Saint Joseph

With a 28-6 record, St. Joe’s has a strong 2023-24 season overall, and coach Cindy Griffin Big 5 Coach of the Year award. Despite this regular season success, the Hawks failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and were eliminated in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals by Rhode Island, 57–47.

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In November 2023, the Hawks came through and won against the Quakers. Backed by an 18-point performance from then-sophomore guard Laura Ziegler, the Hawks pulled off a 77-49 victory. Despite the one-sided margin, the early stages of the game were tightly contested. The Quakers trailed by just one point at the end of the first quarter, but saw the Hawks’ lead quickly grow to 28.

St. Joe’s defense ranked second Limiting opposing scoring has proven to be the Quakers’ biggest issue in the Atlantic 10, as they have struggled to convert and get quality looks at the basket. Learning from those mistakes will be critical to Penn’s effort to bounce back in this year’s matchup.

November 20th at Villanova

The Quakers can enter their matchup against Villanova with much more confidence. In their December matchup last season, the two teams looked pretty evenly matched and battled until the final seconds. Despite trailing by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, the Quakers narrowed the deficit to six in the final period eventually lost with a score of 68-62.

While it was a loss, Villanova looks like a much more viable win this year compared to the upset against St. Joe’s. Considering the Quakers swept the Wildcats in the fourth round, this year’s matchup could easily go the other way.

With a 22-13 record, Villanova has had a very successful 2024 season. Although they were not selected for March Madness, similar to St. Joe’s and Penn, the Wildcats were selected for the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament. they were a single seedThe Wildcats danced all the way to the championship game and then were eliminated. Illinois 71-57.

Villanova’s team was led by guard Lucy Olsen, who led her team in points, assists and steals. The senior will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season, including the matchup with Penn. In last year’s matchup, Olsen scored 14 points, ahead of her teammate forward Christina Dalce, who had 18 points. As these players step up into leadership roles as seniors, you can be sure they will play important roles against the Quakers.

Despite last season’s disappointing Big 5 losses, there is reason to believe the Quakers can make a comeback. With a maturing team and new energy from the freshmen, it would be foolish to count the Quakers out.