PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team used a 22-0 second-quarter explosion to run away to an 83-43 win over Brown on Friday night at The Palestra, its largest margin of victory over the Bears in program history
Behind a balanced attack that saw a quartet of Quakers finish in double figures, Penn cruised to its fourth Ivy League victory in as many contests, improving to 14-3 overall.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Penn now has won the last 15 meetings with Brown, and Coach McLaughlin improves to 17-3 all-time against the Bears.
*The 40-point victory is the largest margin of victory all-time against Brown. It is the fourth-largest Ivy League victory in Penn program history and biggest since 2001.
*Penn is now 95-1 in its last 96 regular season games when scoring 60 points. Additionally, the Quakers are 134-33 when holding their opponents below the 60-point threshold in the McLaughlin-era.
*The 43 points scored by Brown was a season low for the Bears, who came in leading the Ivy League in scoring offense. It also matches the lowest scoring output by Brown against Penn in program history.
*An early key to success for the Quakers was forcing turnovers and converting on the other end. Brown finished with 19 miscues, resulting in 23 points for Penn. The Red and Blue are 11-0 this season when scoring more points off turnovers than their opponent.
*Eleah Parker finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, venturing into double-figure scoring for the 13th-straight game.
*Parker was joined by Ashley Russell, Princess Aghayere and Emily Anderson in double-digit scoring efforts, as Penn shot 46 percent from the floor and made 11 3-pointers.
*Phoebe Sterba, after nailing three long balls, has now drilled at least two threes in each of the last 11 games.
*Katie Kinum hit two threes to ignite Penn's massive second-quarter run, and finished with three and nine points, her first points in Ivy League play.
*Kendall Grasela dished out a career-high eight assists, including seven in the first half.
*Sophomore Emily Anderson finished with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, a career-game for the Pennsylvania native.
*At halftime, Penn had recorded 14 assists on 17 field goals. The Quakers finished with 25 dishes on 33 makes for the game.
*The stifling Quaker defense limited Brown to just six points in the second period, its fewest in a quarter all season.
*Penn's 34 bench points were its most since notching 42 earlier this season vs. NJIT.
*Tori Crawford's third-quarter three was her first of the season, while Deja Jackson hit her first in the fourth quarter.
*Chrissy DiCindio finished with four points, the most of her career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After conceding a three for the game's first points, Penn quickly answered with a pair of easy layups thanks to quality high-low passing. Princess Aghayere lofted a pass for Eleah Parker to put Penn on the board, then Aghayere banked in the next score. Behind another long ball, Brown sped out to an 8-4 lead, but six consecutive points erased that advantage and led to a 10-8 Quaker advantage midway through the first.
Aghayere and Parker each converted layups to get the mini-run rolling and then Kendall Grasela swatted a three-point shot from behind and hit Ashley Russell on a quick outlet pass for an easy transition bucket. Both teams traded the lead twice more before Aghayere's hoop and the harm pushed the Red and Blue to a three-point cushion and then Grasela found a streaking Russell for another fast break layup for a 19-14 lead through 10 minutes. Penn's three-quarter court press caused Brown all sorts of issues, leading to some easy transition baskets.
A pair of long balls from Katie Kinum created some separation for the Quakers as Penn built a double-digit lead, its first of the night, at 29-18 just past the halfway point of the second period. Two more free throws from Aghayere, a drive and dish from Grasela to Russell for three and then back-to-back-to-back treys from Phoebe Sterba quickly expanded the lead to 43-18, capping a fatal 22-0 burst. Penn eventually took a 43-20 lead into the break.
Four Quakers scored in the first five minutes of the third quarter, including two baskets from Aghayere and a three from Russell to extend Penn's cushion to 31, its largest of the game until that point. Penn outscored the Bears 21-10 in the third before Emily Anderson stole the show with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-for-6 shooting in 12 minutes of action to join Russell, Aghayere and Parker in double figures.
Penn was able to extend its lead and involve the bench as time wound down, eventually finding itself with an 83-43 victory when time ran out.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn will host Yale on Saturday night at The Palestra. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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