PHILADELPHIA – A second-half stretch of more than nine minutes without a field goal doomed the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team in a 70-58 loss at Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night.
Freshman Kayla Padilla led with another 23 points, her eighth 20-point game in her first 13 appearances, while Eleah Parker added 10 points and four rebounds. Tori Crawford contributed seven points and nine rebounds – which matches a career high – off the bench.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*The loss is Penn's first in Big 5 action this season. The Quakers can still capture a share of the city title with a win next week at Temple.
*Penn suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since Dec. 9, 2017.
*All three of the Quakers' losses have come when not scoring 60 points.
*When allowing 70 points or more under Coach Mike McLaughlin, Penn is now 6-28 and 0-2 this year.
*The Quakers allowed more than 10 three pointers for the first time this season.
*Tori Crawford matched a career high with nine rebounds, totaling 17 boards over the last two games.
*Kayla Padilla, en route to her eighth 20-point game, has now made at least nine field goals in a game six times this season.
*Eleah Parker swatted three shots, raising her career total to 192, just two shy of matching Katarina Poulsen for third all-time in program history.
*Phoebe Sterba has offered a lot on the glass this season, corralling at least four rebounds in each of the last seven games and at least five in five of those seven. She hit three long balls, hitting more than one in 10 games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Villanova scored the game's first six points with a pair of three pointers before Eleah Parker and Kayla Padilla cut the deficit to just two with consecutive baskets. Just before the midway point of the first period, Penn trailed by five again before blitzing the Wildcats for six points of its own to take its first lead of the game at 14-13. Just 11 seconds later, Villanova took the lead back before Penn wrapped up the quarter with seven of the final nine points to lead 21-17 after 10 minutes. Padilla scored seven of Penn's final 10 tallies in the period, including a fastbreak layup when Kendall Grasela bounced a nifty pass to the freshman as she streaked down the right side of the court.
Emily Anderson injected a ton of energy off the bench in the early going, crashing the glass for two offensive boards and five points in her first six minutes in the game. Penn eventually scored 11 of the period's first 13 points with four different Quakers accounting for baskets, including Anderson, Grasela, Tori Crawford and a long ball from Phoebe Sterba.
Two more threes from Villanova trimmed Penn's lead to five at 30-25 before Parker dove to the basket for two more with 4:38 left in the half. Another three made the Red and Blue's lead just four but Crawford answered with a second-chance basket after fighting for an offensive rebound.
Crawford scored again after racing down the court in transition, once more extending the lead to six before the Cats countered with a basket before the half as the Quakers took a 36-32 lead into the break. At halftime, Penn's bench outscored the Wildcats' 11-0 behind six points and six rebounds from Crawford and another five points from Anderson.
Penn started the half with two baskets as Parker battled through contact for a layup and then Padilla knocked down a jumper to open the lead to eight at 40-32. The Wildcats immediately countered with eight straight points to level the game at 40-40 with 4:36 remaining in the third. Parker and Padilla each added two to end the third, but Villanova took its first lead since the first quarter at 46-44 with 10 minutes left to play.
The Quakers went 9:26 without a basket, stretching from the third to the fourth quarter before Padilla drove to the rim with 4:56 left in the game with the Wildcats up 58-45. Padilla scored on back-to-back possessions, darting to the rim to inch within nine, but Villanova countered with 12 of the next 15 points to seal its victory.
UP NEXT?
Penn caps Big 5 play next Thursday, Jan. 23 at Temple.
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