PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team battled No. 3/2 Notre Dame to the finish at The Palestra, but the Fighting Irish (9-1) went on a run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to stave off the Red and Blue's (2-4) upset bid in a 66-54 win for the Fighting Irish.
 
PENN NEWS AND NOTES

• Senior Lauren Whitlach tied her career high with six three-pointers to lead Penn in scoring with 18 points. She took 12 shots in the game – each a three-pointer – and was good on 50% of them.
• Penn held Notre Dame to its lowest-scoring total of the season with 66 points. Notre Dame's previous low in 2017-18 was 71 last weekend at No. 1 Connecticut.
• Penn has now held its opponent to 68 points or less 72 of its last 74 games.
• Anna Ross had six assists in the game, one off her season-high of seven dished out against Missouri State on Nov. 24, 2017.
• Notre Dame committed 22 turnovers in the game, two off the most by an opponent (24) during Mike McLaughlin's tenure as head coach at Penn.
• Freshman guard Katie Kinum had a season-high two steals.
• Junior guard Ashley Russell had a season-high five offensive rebounds. As a team, Penn out-rebounded Notre Dame on the offensive glass, 15-10.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Quakers scored the first points of the game on an Eleah Parker bucket on the first possession. The teams would trade the lead back-and-forth three times over the first 3:45 of play before the Fighting Irish took the lead for good on a Jackie Young three pointer.
• Katie Kinum connected on a three-pointer with 3:07 to play in the first quarter to cut Notre Dame's lead to 12-10. Penn would not score for the next 2:05 and Notre Dame would go on a 10-2 run after Kinum's trey to lead, 22-12, after one quarter.
• Parker would score four points in the first 1:42 of the second quarter to cut Notre Dame's lead to 24-16. Penn had its deficit down to five after an Anna Ross three with 2:22 to play in the first half, and had a chance to enter halftime even closer but a Ross three-point attempt with two seconds remaining circled halfway down the hoop and spiraled out.
• The teams were a combined 7-for-30 from the field in the third quarter, combining for just 17 points. The Quakers were 3-for-19, failing to capitalize on six Notre Dame turnovers and five Penn offensive rebounds. Whitlach had six of Penn's eight points on a pair of threes.
• The Quakers trailed by eight after three quarters, but a 19-8 run by Notre Dame over the first 4:16 of the final period put the game out of reach. Notre Dame Arike Ogunbowale had 11 of Notre Dame's 19 points in that stretch, she would finish with 13 points in the fourth quarter on her way to a game-high 20.
• Whitlach was 3-for-3 from beyond the arch in the fourth quarter.
• Penn outscored Notre Dame, 12-5 over the final 5:44 of play, holding the Irish to 2-for-7 shooting. 

WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers venture back into Big Five play on Monday night with a short road trip to Saint Joseph's. Tip-off with the Hawks is scheduled for 7 p.m.