HONOLULU – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team, behind four Quakers in double figures, left Stan Sheriff Center with a convincing 70-55 defeat of Hawaii on Tuesday afternoon, the final day of 2019, to continue its best start in program history.
Freshman Kayla Padilla eclipsed the 20-point mark for the sixth time in 10 games this season with a game-high 23 points and was joined by three others in double figures. Kennedy Suttle was a rebound shy from a double-double with 11 points, buoyed by three first-half long balls; Eleah Parker was also just one rebound away with 10 points and four blocks; and Tori Crawford scored 10 points on just four shots.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Penn is 9-1 for the first time in program history, continuing its best start.
*Coach Mike McLaughlin picked up his 595th career win, now just five wins away from becoming the 19th active Division I head coach to reach 600 wins.
*The Quakers are now 8-0 this season when outscoring the opposition in the painted area; Penn outscored Hawaii 36-26 on Tuesday.
*For the second straight game, four in the Red and Blue finished in double figures.
*Penn won its ninth non-league game, totaling tied for the sixth-best mark in program history.
*The Quakers are 107-1 in their last 108 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points.
*Penn scored at least 40 points in the first half for the fourth time this season.
*Under McLaughin, Penn is now 94-7 and 9-0 this year when leading after three quarters.
*When scoring 70 points or more, Penn is now 65-3 under McLaughlin and 6-0 this season.
*Kayla Padilla scored 23 more points, the sixth time scoring more than 20 this year.
*In 10 games, Phoebe Sterba has made multiple threes in eight of them after making two against Hawaii.
*Sterba corralled a season-high six boards in the win.
*Eleah Parker swatted away four shots, the fourth time in the last five games she's done so.
HOW IT HAPPENED
On Penn's first possession, both Kennedy Suttle and Kendall Grasela ripped down offensive rebounds before Suttle canned a three from the wing late in the shot clock. From there, however, Hawaii scored the game's next nine points to run out to a 9-3 lead. Through the first 6:17 of the game, the Quakers shot just seven percent from the field, missing 13 of their first 14 shots before Kayla Padilla and Phoebe Sterba drilled back-to-back three pointers to tie the game at nine.
Including those threes, Penn ended the first quarter on a 14-4 run to inch out to a 17-13 lead. Down the stretch of the period, Eleah Parker and Tori Crawford were dominant in the paint, scoring six consecutive points.
The second quarter started the same way the first did: a three from Suttle to push the lead to seven at 20-13. After consecutive buckets from Padilla, the Red and Blue eventually opened up a 13-point advantage at 29-16 with 6:21 remaining in the half. The Rainbow Wahine dug in, though, and clawed back within six at 30-24 just past the midway point of the second period.
To close the half, however, Penn blitzed Hawaii for a 10-2 run that included a pair of threes converted by Grasela and Sterba while Suttle and Parker cashed in baskets as well. Parker's came off a miss when she grabbed a rebound and made her put back all in one jump. Then on the ensuing defensive possession, she swatted away a Hawaii shot leading to Sterba's three. The Quakers led 40-26 at the break, the fourth time Penn scored at least 40 in a first half this season.
Aside from buckets by Parker and Padilla, Hawaii scored the other nine points to open the third quarter, closing within single digits again at 44-35 with 4:08 left. From there, Penn's offense really began flowing through Padilla as she scored twice down the stretch in the third, sandwiching a nifty layup from Grasela after Hawaii closed to 47-40. On her bucket, the senior point guard dribbled at her defender and then left her in the dust with a crafty inside-out dribble before banking in her runner. The Quakers led 51-40 at the end of the quarter.
Padilla continued her terrific second half with a three to open the final period, just before Katie Kinum entered the game and promptly canned a long ball herself. In the fourth, Hawaii never got closer than 14 points and, at one point after a pair of free throws from Crawford, Penn led by as many as 20. In total, Padilla racked up 10 in the fourth to raise her total to a game-high 23 points, securing a 70-55 win.
UP NEXT?
The Quakers remain in Honolulu to take on Chaminade on Thursday, Jan. 2 before a massive showdown with Princeton at the Palestra on Saturday, Jan. 11.
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