City of Basketball Love

Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)
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UNIVERSITY CITY — When Penn coach Mike McLaughlin traveled to Hungary to watch Floor Toonders play in the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship tournament, he saw her play a post-heavy, interior offensive game for her native Netherlands. McLaughlin, though, envisioned a role for the 6-foot-4 forward that included much more work on the perimeter.

Looking for a new destination after two years at the University of Florida, Toonders did not want to become just a floor spacer. Now, in her first season with the Quakers, she seems to have found the right blend of styles in West Philly.

“I was looking for somewhere where I can play like how I played before I came to college,” she said. “Definitely stay more inside. If the opportunity is there to pop out, I’ll pop out and shoot. But I feel like here I get the freedom (to do both) if I show I can do it.”

Playing with that freedom, Toonders has started to grow early in her career at Penn as she steps into a starting big position. The junior transfer put that progress on display on Thursday night, dropping her first career double-double in a 73-53 victory over visiting Stony Brook at the Palestra.

Toonders showed off all parts of her versatile game to help the Quakers (3-5) earn their second straight win to bounce back from a four-game skid. She scored a season-high 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while dishing out four assists in a huge 36-minute performance.

“She’s just getting better and better,” McLaughlin said, “and I think she feels like she can be more than just a player on a team. She was at Florida and now she has a critical role here, and I think she enjoys that.”

Toonders has now recorded double-digit rebounding totals in two straight games against La Salle and Stony Brook (4-3), seemingly starting to come into her own as Penn gets itself back on a better track.

“It’s been great so far,” Toonders said. “I have a lot of fun on the court and off the court. … I feel like now the fun is carrying over to how I play, so I feel like I can play more in my element.”

“She’s adjusted really well,” McLaughlin added. “She’s highly professional, nothing really bothers her. She’s got great composure, and her teammates love her. She’s a great fit here at Penn.”

On Thursday, Toonders was one of the features of a Penn scoring attack that was rolling from the jump as she made 5-of-5 shots inside the arc and knocked down one of the Quakers’ 12 3-pointers on the night, a season high for the team. The forward kept the flow of the offense moving with four Penn starters reaching double digits in points, led by a career-high 18 points and four 3s from senior guard Mandy McGurk.

“Floor is great to play with,” McGurk said. “She kind of moves like a guard and has a high basketball IQ. It’s nice having a post who can give backdoor passes or handoffs, but also can dribble and run the floor pretty well. It’s really nice having a post player who thinks and moves like a guard and has that pass-first mentality, but is able to put it up really easily when she does get it in the post.”

Toonders made an impact in all aspects in the first half, complementing double-digit scoring efforts from Jordan Obi (12) and McGurk (10). She scored eight points herself before the break on 4-of-6 shooting, only missing on two attempts from 3-point range. Furthermore, her presence helped the offense stay fluid as her passing and screening ability allowed Penn to find open looks on its way to a 41-26 lead.

“That’s a good thing about her at her size,” McLaughlin said of Toonders. “She can play away from the basket. We can run offense through her and run offense to her. She can play on the perimeter and do a lot of things to create space for our guards.”

Toonders then stepped out and buried a 3-ball from the right wing in the first minute of the third quarter, her only field goal attempt of the second half. But she continued to affect the game defensively, recording two emphatic second-half blocks to tie a career high with three on the night.

“One of the things we needed her to do was be more of a stopper in the middle,” McLaughlin said of her defense, “which is a new role for her. Even in the Netherlands, she played more on the perimeter. I can tell you she’s getting better and better in that role.”

Stony Brook never really threatened as Penn secured a win on its home floor in its first of 10 consecutive games at the Palestra. The road was not kind to the Quakers, but they now have an opportunity to get something going in a familiar setting before Ivy League play begins in January.

“The way the schedule breaks sometimes is interesting,” McLaughlin said. “Six of our first seven were away, and we weren’t even around the corner — we were in Chicago, California. We’ve put a lot of miles on. But it’s good that we can hopefully run something here at the Palestra and get multiple wins. Hopefully that will carry over to the league.”

And with contributors such as Toonders emerging, Penn will be right at home as it tries to keep building, starting with next Tuesday’s matchup against Bucknell at 7 p.m.

“I love playing in the Palestra,” Toonders said. “… I think it’s great. I think it’s good to see how we react to that, because we had a rough stretch. Now, we can really settle in and carry over from the earlier games.”