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City 6 Preview: Penn Quakers Primer (WBB)

10/20/2022, 9:00am EDT
By Jeff Griffith

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)

(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here)

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2022-23 Penn Quakers
Coach: Mike McLaughlin, 14th season (229-135, .629)
Last Year: 12-14 (7-7 Ivy); DNQ for Ivy League Tournament
 


Mike McLaughlin (above, last season) hasn't had many losing seasons in his collegiate career. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Last season was, in all respects, a down year for the Penn women’s basketball program, marking the first time since 2012-13 that the Quakers failed to win 20 games. Falling far short of that mark, Penn aims to return to its former level of Ivy League dominance in 2022-23; the Quakers finished among the league’s top two in seven consecutive seasons prior to last year’s fifth-place finish. A promising group of newcomers, coupled with a core group of key returners, hopes to right the ship this season. 

Key Departures: G Mia Lakstigala (10.9 ppg), F Kennedy Suttle (7.6 ppg), G Nikola Kovacikova (2.9 ppg), G Meg Hair (1.0 ppg)

Penn lost a quartet of players this offseason, but the two that stick out are Lakstigala and Suttle. The pair each started in all of their 2021-22 appearances, both averaging right around 30 minutes in those contests. The two combined for about 28 percent of Penn’s scoring and 34 percent of its rebounding — Suttle led the team in boards with 8.3 per game — which aren’t irreplicable numbers, but they’re not minor losses, either. Moreover, though, McLaughlin noted that those two seniors had been major core pieces to Penn as a program, and those kinds of immeasurables will need to be replaced in the coming season. 

New Faces: PG Saniah Caldwell (Fr./Saddle River Day School, N.J.), G Simone Sawyer (Fr//Stevenson, Ill.), F Floor Toonders (Jr./Florida), G Georgia Heine (Fr./Manasquan, N.J.), G Isabel Gomez (Sage Hill, Calif.), F Helena Lasic (Fr./Westtown School, Pa.). C Ella Ray (Oak Ridge, Calif.)

Penn’s freshman class is six deep and features its fair share of pieces that can contribute right away. McLaughlin mentioned two impressive freshmen in particular, Ray and Sawyer, who we’ll get to more in a minute, but en masse, this is the largest class of first-year players in over a decade. Throw in a promising and experienced Florida transfer in Toonders, and it’s fair to say Penn’s roster has gotten a noticeable makeover in 2022-23. 

(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Projected Starters: G Kayla Padilla (18.5 ppg), G Mandy McGurk (4.9 ppg), G Lizzy Groetsch (2.5 ppg), F Jordan Obi (14.0 ppg), F/C Floor Toonders (1.5 ppg)

Penn returns its top two scorers from 2022-23 in Padilla (above) and Obi; the two also led the way in minutes, while Obi’s 7.5 rpg were second on the team. Having not been away from the court all offseason due to an injury, Obi will need to adjust quickly to the Quakers’ new-look rotation, but brings plenty of returning production and experience as a junior. For Padilla, 2022-23 was her second consecutive season leading the Quakers in scoring; she averaged a team-high 17.4 ppg in 2019-20, shot 36.8 percent from beyond the arc, and tacked on 4.2 apg. 

In terms of new pieces of the starting lineup, Toonders appears poised to join Obi in the starting backcourt, bringing two years of SEC experience to Philadelphia. The 6-foot-4 forward from the Netherlands averaged 1.5 points and 3.0 boards in about 12 minutes during her second year with the Gators, and was praised by McLaughlin for her noticeably high level of maturity. Groetsch appears to have emerged from a crowded group of key bench players and into a starting role, having experienced “significant” offseason improvement, according to McLaughlin, who said he’s noticed much more precise shooting mechanics from the sophomore and North Allegheny alum. 

Key Reserves: G Simone Sawyer (Fr.), C Ella Ray (Fr.), G Stina Almqvist (4.2 ppg), G Sydnei Caldwell (4.7 ppg), F Silke Milliman (2.7 ppg)

In terms of minutes, Caldwell and Almqvist were among the first line of reserves off the bench last season — alongside Groestch and Kovacikova — averaging 16.2 and 12.3 minutes respectively. Both are more than capable of spelling Penn’s starting guards for stretches. In terms of incoming freshmen, McLaughlin specifically spoke highly of Sawyer and Ray. He regarded Sawyer for her speed and three-point shooting ability — the latter a valauble asset for a Penn team that lost two of its three consistent rotation players who shot over 30 percent from distance a year ago. As for the 6-foot-2 Ray, McLaughlin noted intensity and effort as key strengths. 

By the Numbers

(37.6): The number of minutes averaged by Kayla Padilla last season, which ranked 10th nationally, is certainly a noteworthy stat to follow. As mentioned before, Padilla is, as McLaughlin described, “the key to everything,” and based on last year’s rotation, there wasn’t much interest in taking her off the floor for more than a handful of plays per game, so that checks out. The more Penn’s newcomers settle into the fabric of the program, conventional wisdom would say the more likely that number will dip a bit, but if Padilla’s as crucial to the heartbeat of the Quakers as McLaughlin noted, it’s likely her minutes will once rank among the nation’s highest. 


Jordan Obi (above) was Penn's second-leading scorer last season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

(10): Yes, Penn certainly lost its fair share of production in terms of consistent minutes-getters; just between Suttle’s 31.5 mpg and Lakstigala’s 29.9 mpg, that’s 30 percent of on-court minutes no longer around. The plus, though, for Penn, is its impressive depth from a year ago. Ultimately, 10 different players recorded 10 or more mpg, with three more recording at least eight. As such, when the Quakers try to replace their key pair of seniors, they’ll be doing so with plenty of players who are comfortable on the floor. 

(20): At the end of the day, while Penn had its fair share of negative factors contributing to a down season a year ago, falling below .500 isn’t something the Quakers — a consistent winning program of the last decade-plus — want to replicate. Ultimately, 20 wins has been a standard for the majority of McLaughlin’s tenure, and returning to that mark this year will be a telling barometer of the speed of Penn’s rebuild after a sub-.500 campaign. 

Keep an eye on…

The First Two Weeks: If it hasn’t been made clear enough yet, Penn’s overall rotation looks a decent bit different than it did a year ago. It features promising talent, but that talent — which may likely need time to gel and develop together, especially with Jordan Obi’s offseason absence — faces five road games, three power-five opponents — USC, Villanova and Northwestern — and a trip to California in its first 14 days. Obviously, non-conference challenges likely won’t hold major weight for Penn’s postseason aspirations, which all come down to the Quakers’ Ivy League performance, but the Quakers’ fresh rotation will be sharpened by plenty of iron before Thanksgiving.  

Princeton: This isn’t anything new, but the Tigers have positioned themselves as top dog in the Ivy League in recent years, earning a No. 11 seed and NCAA Tournament win over Kentucky last season. Princeton owned Penn a year ago, drubbing the Quakers in each of the two teams’ meetings by 20 and 26 points apiece. As a program, though, Penn had been right on Princeton’s level over the course of the 2010s, so January 16 and March 3 matchups with the Tigers will serve as key barometers for how much of a step back up the ladder, if any, the Quakers can take in 2022-23.


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