ITHACA, N.Y. - Sophomore Eleah Parker tallied a career-high 26 points, guiding the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team to a decisive 59-46 victory at Cornell on Friday night. The victory pushes Penn to 12-3 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in the Ivy League. 

PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Not only did Parker pour in a career-high 26 on offense, the Charlotte, N.C. native recorded her 13th career double-double, adding in 12 rebounds. On defense, she blocked six shots, a new high for the sophomore in Ivy League play.

*Phoebe Sterba and Princess Aghayere joined Parker in double-digit scoring, as Sterba finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while Aghayere posted 10 points and five rebounds.

*Penn was efficient in moving the ball against the Big Red, as all five starters finished with at least two assists, including a game-high five from Ashley Russell.

*The win is Penn's fifth-straight in the series vs. Cornell. The Quakers improve to 59-21 all-time against the Big Red, while Coach McLaughlin owns a 12-7 mark against the team. 

*Penn entered Friday ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 32.7 percent and improved upon that mark, holding Cornell to a 16-of-52 mark from the field, for 30.8 percent. 

*At 2-0, the Quakers are the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Ivy League. 

*The Quakers are 7-1 on the road this season and have won six-straight road games after an early setback to No. 1/1 Notre Dame in November.

*Cornell has not surpassed 55 points against Penn since 2015.

HOW IT HAPPENED
With both teams known for staunch defense, the game was unsurprising to many in both the pace and point production to start. Ashley Russell did her best to set a quick tone early, cutting to the basket and scoring directly off the tipoff for the Quakers.
 
Penn and the Big Red would go back and forth, despite the Red and Blue holding the home team scoreless for over a five-minute stretch in the first period. Parker and Aghayere got into the action in the paint for the Quakers, who managed to build a 10-6 lead, but Cornell stormed back to take a lead, holding Penn scoreless until the waning moments as the visitors tied it up 12-12 after 10 minutes.
 
Grasela sunk a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, and the two teams would tussle back and forth before a 5-0 burst from the Quakers, capped by another 3-ball from Russell to force a Cornell timeout.
 
Penn's defense sunk its teeth into the Big Red to end the half, holding Cornell scoreless for the final 5:26 of the period, and tallied a transition 3-pointer from Sterba to go into the locker room up 27-18.
 
The third quarter saw success early from the Quakers, as Penn pounced for a quick 5-0 run out of the locker room to force a Cornell timeout just a minute into action as the lead swelled to 32-18.
 
It didn't stop there.
 
The lead grew to 38-20 following a drive and dish from Sterba, as Penn totaled a 21-4 run after the game was 17-16 early in the second quarter.
 
An and-one opportunity from Michae Jones and turnaround jumper from Aghayere ignited the Penn bench, as Penn found its largest lead at 48-25. Parker dominated both ends of the court, as the Quakers found her on the lob in transition time and time again, and the sophomore was a force inside, either blocking or altering everything in the paint.
 
Down 48-29 after three quarters, Cornell made its first 3-pointer in the last period of play. The Quakers struggled to score to open the fourth, as Cornell went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 52-39 with 3:32 remaining.
 
Penn would respond with a 7-0 run to push the lead back out to 20, and held on from there, earning a 59-46 victory as time ran out.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Part two of Penn's first Ivy League back-to-back weekend is next, as the Quakers complete the New York swing at Columbia on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m.