HANOVER, N.H. - Dominant defense continued to reign supreme for the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team, as the Quakers won their seventh straight, beating Dartmouth 60-44 on Friday night. The victory moves Penn to 16-3 overall as the Red and Blue remain atop the Ivy League at 6-0.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
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Ashley Russell led the way offensively, netting 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, adding eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. The senior captain has scored in double figures 10 times this year. Russell is averaging 20 points per game in her last two outings at Dartmouth.
*Russell was joined in double figures by
Princess Aghayere (13) and
Eleah Parker (12). Aghayere notched her third double-double of the season and fifth of her career, adding 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end of the floor.
*Parker was particularly dominant in the first quarter, scoring eight points to pace Penn early. The sophomore now has 15-straight double-digit scoring games.
*The Quakers dominated the battle of the boards, finishing with 42 rebounds to Dartmouth's 24.
*Penn held Dartmouth to 33 percent shooting from the floor, while shooting 46 percent itself. The Quakers' largest lead of 22 came in the third quarter.
*Penn is 6-0 in the Ivy League for the fifth time in program history, joining the 1999-00, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2015-16 and 2016-17 squads.
*The Quakers have held three straight Ivy League opponent's to 48 points or less. Penn has won 68 of its last 69 games when holding its opponent to under 49 points.
*Penn is now 9-1 on the road this season and has won eight straight on an opponents home court. The streak ranks as the third longest on the road in program history. The Quakers are one of 21 teams in the country with at least nine road wins this year.
*Penn improves to 37-43 all-time against Dartmouth, and has no won nine straight in the series, as well as 15 of the last 16.
*Penn's overall record of 16-3 matches the best start through 19 games in program history, set in 2015-16.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was all post players all the time for Penn in the first quarter, as the Quakers went to Parker and Aghayere inside early and often. Both teams traded runs, started by a 4-0 spurt from Parker before Dartmouth responded with a 5-0 run of its own. Right back was Penn with a 6-0 surge, with Parker the catalyst behind eight of the Quakers' first 10 points. A 3-pointer from Cy Lippold gave the Big Green a lead at 12-10, but an and-one from Aghayere vaulted Penn back on top to end the period at 13-12.
A quick 3-pointer from Sterba gave Penn a 16-12 lead out of the break, and Penn put the clamps down on defense the remainder of the period, holding Dartmouth without a point for over six minutes of play. The Quakers took advantage, going on an 11-0 run behind steals and transition runouts, ultimately earning a 31-17 edge at the half. Russell was a spark plug for the Red and Blue in the quarter with nine points in the frame, either converting layups in transition or nailing the open three.
More suffocating defense from Penn allowed the visitors to burst out to a 40-20 lead in the third quarter, before Dartmouth cut the deficit down to 15. In a quick response though,
Katie Kinum nailed a corner three and Russell again finished in transition, pushing the lead right back out to 47-27 to end the third.
The Quakers got contributions late from the likes of
Emily Anderson,
Kendall Grasela and
Mia Lakstigala to fend off the Big Green, ultimately finishing with a 60-44 win at the final horn.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn will round out its first half of Ivy League play with a road matchup at Harvard tomorrow, Feb. 16. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
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