PHILADELPHIA - In a matchup between two of the nation's top-three defenses, it was the unit from the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team that proved strongest on Friday afternoon, claiming The Battle of 33rd Street with a 55-39 victory over neighboring Drexel. The win pushes Penn to 7-2 on the season. 

PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Eleah Parker led the way for Penn as a catalyst both on offense and on defense. The sophomore finished with her second-straight double-double and third of the season, posting 17 points and 13 rebounds, while swatting a career-high seven blocks.

*Parker's seven blocks are the most for a Penn player since Michelle Nwokedi registered seven against Brown on March 11, 2017. 

*Ashley Russell and Princess Aghayere joined Parker in double figures, as each chipped in 10 points. Russell finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while also dishing four assists. 

*The Quakers held Drexel's leading scorer, Bailey Greenberg, to a season-low eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field. She entered the game averaging over 18 points per contest. 

*Penn held Drexel to a 21 percent shooting clip from the field, while going 22-of-50 from the floor itself for a 44 percent mark. 

*The Quakers have held four-straight opponents to 47 points or less for the first time since 1975. Penn moved its scoring defense down to 48.6 points per game. 

*Friday's game was Penn's second matchup against a team ranked in the Mid Major Top-25. The Quakers were 19th in the poll entering the contest, Drexel was eighth. 

*Penn's win was the first at Drexel since Feb. 24, 1977 and first ever in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. 

*The win was the second-straight in the series over Drexel, moving the all-time advantage to 14-13 in favor of the Dragons. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Going against the nation's top scoring defense, the Quakers knew they couldn't let Drexel control the pace of the game in a halfcourt battle. Penn's solution to that? Run. 

The Red and Blue got out and running early and often, pushing the pace to force the Dragons into tough situations on defense. After the home team scored the first points of the game, Penn responded with a 12-0 run, holding Drexel scoreless for over seven minutes in the first period of play, to shoot out to a 16-4 lead after the opening 10 minutes of action. All five starters played every second of the quarter, with each earning at least one field goal and one rebound, holding the Dragons to 13 percent shooting.

As Drexel crowded the rebounder after a miss on its end, Penn looked to get the ball down the court in a hurry, and would find outlet passes on the wing to extend its lead to 23-8. A mini 5-0 run from the Dragons would get them back within 11, but Sterba quickly spurned their hopes with a 3-ball to push it back out, as Penn entered the locker room up 31-16. 

A jumper from Parker and 3-pointer from Russell spurred the Penn offense early in the second half, as the Quakers were deliberate in playing fast when they could, but slowing it down otherwise. Penn flexed its muscle on the boards in the second half, and despite missing six-straight free throws to end the quarter, the visiting team held a 44-24 edge with 10 minutes to play. 

Drexel's full-court press gave Penn issues down the stretch, but it was too little too late for the Dragons as Penn had built an insurmountable lead. The Quakers became just the second team this season to score at least 10 points in every quarter of play against Drexel.

QUOTING COACH
"I thought our defense was excellent from start to finish ... Overall, I was really proud of our group. That's a really good team. That was a huge win for us, happy to get it here."

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Quakers will take a 10-day break from game action for the Christmas holiday before heading south to The Sunshine State to ring in the New Year. Penn will play at Stetson on Monday, Dec. 31 at 11 a.m.