PHILADELPHIA - Saturdays in the Ivy League are about toughness, and toughness is what it took for the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team to grind out a 54-48 win over Yale on this particular Saturday, as the Quakers remained the lone undefeated team in the conference at 5-0. The victory is Penn's sixth straight, improving the Red and Blue to 15-3 overall.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
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Eleah Parker led the team in scoring for the ninth time this season, collecting her seventh double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while adding five blocks defensively. The sophomore had to play the final 12:30 of the game.
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Princess Aghayere joined Parker as an offensive catalyst in the paint, as the senior finished with 15 points, and nine rebounds, including a 7-of-10 mark from the free throw line.
*The turnover category proved to be a giant key towards Penn's success, especially early, as the Red and Blue only coughed the ball up seven times on the night, forcing Yale into 15 miscues. The Quakers scored 11 points off Bulldog turnovers and improved to 12-0 this year when scoring more in that category than their opponent.
*The Bulldogs and Quakers entered the night as the top two rebounding teams in the league, and that lived up to the billing, with Yale owning a slight 46-43 advantage in total rebounds on the night. Penn won in second-chance points though, scoring 14 points off 18 o-boards.
*Penn is now 5-0 in the Ivy League with Yale and Harvard tied for second place at 4-2.
*The Quakers move to 44-39 in the all-time series against Yale and have won six straight over the Bulldogs at The Palestra.
QUOTING COACH
"We defended hard. We rebounded the ball consistently ... They're a very good basketball team, well coached, but we found a way. We found a way to rebound and defend for four quarters, and when we really struggled to score we didn't let the runs get too big."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter completely belonged to
Eleah Parker and stifling defensive pressure from the Quakers. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year scored the first eight points of the game for Penn as the Red and Blue raced out to an 8-3 advantage. Penn put the clamps on the Bulldogs as Yale went 5:04 without a point and the lead grew to seven after
Princess Aghayere banked home a layup.
Penn sprinkled in a
Michae Jones long ball and a
Phoebe Sterba layup to go with along with two more buckets from Parker to outscore Yale 19-7 in the opening period behind a dozen from the sophomore.
Yale dug in its heels and scored six consecutive points to open the second, but a fast break layup from
Ashley Russell and a
Kendall Grasela three promptly pushed Penn's lead back to double figures, at 24-13. With a 26-16 advantage,
Katie Kinum knocked down a trey and Aghayere added a bucket and two free throws for a quick 7-3 spurt to extend the difference to 14. A late free throw cut the Quakers' lead to 13 at the break, 33-20.
Russell canned a three to open the third and push the lead to 16 and it hovered to 16 again, just after the midway point of the third, when Sterba also hit a long ball. But, the Bulldogs mounted yet another surge, this time scoring seven straight to cut their deficit to nine, at 41-32, the first time it was under 10 since 4:58 remained in the first half. With under a minute left, Yale crept closer with another three, this time from the corner to pull within six at the end of the third, as Penn's offense went cold with Parker on the bench with four fouls.
After getting a stop on Yale's first offensive possession of the fourth, drama began to unfold as
Kendall Grasela nailed a putback just milliseconds before the shot clock expired. While the refs initially called it a shot clock violation, a video review proved the merit of the bucket, putting Penn back up eight.
A Roxy Barahman free throw would put the score at 43-36, and it would remain as such for the next four minutes, as neither team was able to find anything offensively. Tension was rising in The Palestra before the Bulldogs broke the drought to bring the score to 43-38.
Princess Aghayere responded with a hook shot off the glass, but it was Yale again, getting an and-one opportunity but missing the free throw on the other end.
With Parker back in the game, the Quakers knew where to look, and the sophomore collected her own miss to help Penn gain some breathing room at 47-40. Tori Andrew nailed a 3-pointer for Yale with 2:19 remaining, cutting the lead to 47-43, and after a Penn miss, had the ball with a chance to cut even more. The Bulldogs earned an offensive rebound before missing another shot of their own, and Penn called timeout with 51.9 seconds remaining and eight on the shot clock.
Parker took the inbounds pass and drove to the basket herself, giving the Quakers a much needed 49-43 edge. Yale quickly scored one of their own down low, and fouled Aghayere, who went 1-of-2 from the foul line.
With 26 seconds left, Yale's scoring star Barahman delivered a timely 3-pointer in the corner, igniting the Bulldog bench as Yale brought it to a one-possession game, 50-48.
It came down to free throws and defense, and Penn did enough of both to survive, as Russell hit one to make it 51-48 and the Quakers forced a miss from behind-the-arc, collecting the rebound with 16 seconds left. Aghayere hit both, and Sterba hit one more late, sealing a 54-48 victory for the Red and Blue.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Quakers return to the road next weekend, making the northbound trek to Dartmouth and Harvard for another Friday/Saturday tilt.
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