Penn vs. Columbia Box (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - On senior night at The Palestra, the Penn Quakers (17-7, 10-1) continued their Ivy League dominance with a 68-59 win over the Columbia Lions (13-11, 3-8), moving them to 10-1 in the Ancient Eight.

By virtue of Cornell's win over Princeton, the Quakers now have a two game lead over the Tigers for the top seed in the Ivy League tournament going into the final three games of the regular season.

Inside the Numbers
The Quakers were 9-of-18 (50%) from beyond the arc, with four players (Kasey Chambers, Michelle Nwokedi, Phoebe Sterba, and Anna Ross) contributing two each. The Red and Blue defense beyond the arc was also stellar, as Penn held the Lions to just 4-of-16 (25%) from downtown. Michelle Nwokedi led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 6-of-10 (60%) from the field for her fourth straight double-double.  

How it Happened
The Quakers and Lions traded blows in a fast paced first quarter. Penn led for most of the half behind four points from Nwokedi and key triples from Ross and Chambers. Columbia, with seven made field goals in the first quarter, ended the quarter with a slight two point advantage over the hosts, 15-13.

The Quakers put on a ball movement clinic in the second stanza, playing inside-out with Nwokedi and Ross who finished with 10 and eight points in the first half, respectively. The Lions hung within four for most of the quarter in part due to their advantage on the boards. A pair of Sterba triples late in the quarter bolstered Penn's lead to 32-29 while Columbia ended the half without a score in the final 2:10 of action

Coming out of intermission, it was the seniors who led the way in the third. Chambers and Stipanovich sparked a hot start as Penn continued to extend their lead. Five points from Nwokedi and a trey from Beth Brzozowski powered the Red and Blue, while Princess Aghayere netted five more points to help the Quakers go up 50-40 at the end of the third.

Columbia started the fourth quarter with a run of their own to narrow the Penn lead to six with under six to play. Chambers woke the Quakers up from a scoring drought, connecting on a triple from downtown with five minutes to go in the game. It was smooth sailing for the Quakers from there on out: an Ashley Russell no-look pass to Stipanovich, a few clutch free throws, and solid team defense propelled the Quakers to a 68-59 victory.

Up Next
The Quakers hit the road next week for their final Ivy weekend, playing at Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday, Mar. 3 and Saturday, Mar. 4. Penn will round out their regular season on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at home against Princeton.

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