There was no need for dramatics this time around. Monica Naltner posted a double-double, Joey Rhoads led the way with 25 points, and the Penn women's basketball team rolled to a 77-65 triumph over Rider yesterday.

Less than three days after Maggie Burgess hit the game-winning shot with 15 seconds remaining at Lehigh, the Quakers took another short commute north for their second victory to start the season.

In regards to the second 2-0 start in his three-year tenure at Penn, coach Pat Knapp can thank the dominant play of senior forward Naltner, who tallied 17 points and 16 boards on the afternoon.

"When Monica gives you a double-double, that's a real nice day," Knapp said. "Monica would get the balloon for the day."

The Penn MVP for the day commended her teammates for their strong effort.

"We [kept] our offense up," Naltner said. "The offense was moving the ball pretty well, and we were making the extra pass."

Rhoads, the orchestrator of Penn's offense once again, could not have agreed more with her fellow senior.

"We ran them a lot � pushed the ball up and opened up the court," the hot-handed 5-foot-4 guard said. "We moved the ball and everyone got good looks."

Lauren Pears rounded out the senior scoring with 12 points of her own. Kelly Scott and Carrie Biemer came off the bench to contribute nine and five points, respectively.

After falling into an early eight-point hole, the Broncs pulled ahead thanks to sloppy rebounding and ball management by Penn.

"The turnovers were self-inflicted," Knapp said of his team, which accumulated 13 total on the day. "We made bad decisions and drove into areas that were overcrowded."

The Quakers climbed back on top with an 8-2 run to end the first half, and never relinquished their lead again. The second half saw better shooting and smarter play for Penn, but still not at the level Knapp desires.

"We improved our offensive execution and rebounding in the second half," the Penn coach said. "We were not happy with our performance overall. The other team got too many second shots."

Rider provided one of two non-conference wins last season. In that game, the Quakers more than doubled the Broncs in rebounding, en route to a 66-38 blowout.

But Rider and Lehigh represented those two lone non-conference wins in 2005-06. The Quakers have yet to face a team whom they didn't defeat last year.

With only stronger opponents to come, the players are well-aware that there is still work to be done.

"We need to be stronger with the ball and not get flustered when teams come at us really hard," Rhoads said.

The Quakers host La Salle tomorrow night in their home opener at the Palestra, looking for their first Big 5 win since December 2004, a 64-57 win over St. Joe's. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.