HANOVER, N.H. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team rebounded in a massive way, dominating Dartmouth for a 66-33 win on Saturday evening at Leede Arena.
The Quakers hit the Big Green with a mountainous 29-0 run spanning over the first and second quarters, holding Dartmouth scoreless for 11:31. In back-to-back quarters – the second and third – Penn limited Dartmouth to five points or less; Dartmouth's 31 points are the fewest the Quakers conceded in a game this season.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*The win is the 600th in the program's history.
*When allowing under 40 points in a game, Penn is now 29-0 under Mike McLaughlin.
*Penn entered the weekend ninth in the country in scoring defense at just 53.4 ppg.
*Conversely, when scoring at least 60 in regulation in regular season games, the Quakers improve to 109-2.
*Dartmouth's 14 first-half points are the fewest conceded by Penn this season. The Big Green's 33 in the game are alos the fewest.
*In the second quarter, the Big Green managed just four points, matching the fewest the Quakers allowed in a quarter this season.
*When outscoring opponents in fastbreak opportunities this season, Penn is now 10-1. On Saturday, the Quakers outscored Dartmouth 12-2.
*Eleah Parker recorded her 20th career double-double and second in three games with a masterful 14-point, 16-board performance. She also had two blocks; this weekend she moved into third all-time.
*Phoebe Sterba shot 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep to finish with 15 points, two off her season high.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Just about two minutes into the game, Eleah Parker ended the scoreless tie with a layup right around the rim. After the Big Green equaled Penn's score at 2-2, Phoebe Sterba hit a tough runner on the right side of the lane, banking in her attempt and then the Quakers doubled its lead when Parker gobbled up two offensive rebounds before converting her put back. Parker opened proceedings extraordinarily dominant on the glass, especially on the offensive end of the floor. In the first six minutes, Parker had six rebounds.
With 3:02 left in the first, Sterba canned a three from the wing to push the Penn lead to 15-7. After a long ball from Dartmouth, the Big Green closed within five before the Quakers unleashed a fatal run. In a stretch that began towards the end of the first and moved into the second, Penn hit Dartmouth with a mammoth 29-0 run, keeping the Big Green scoreless for 11:31, ballooning a 15-10 lead into a 44-10 contest just before the half. Dartmouth scored the final four points of the half, making it 44-14.
The Quakers were getting offense in loads of different ways, but especially in transition and from beyond the arc. In that stretch, Penn hit five three pointers, coming from Padilla (2), Sterba, Kendall Grasela and Michae Jones. Parker continued to corral loads of rebounds, finishing the opening 20 minutes with a double-double at 10 points and 10 boards, one of three Quakers in double figures at the break; Padilla and Sterba each had 12.
After allowing just four points in the second quarter, Penn maintained its stifling defense in the third, limiting Dartmouth to only five. The Quakers scored 14 in the third, expanding their lead to 58-19 after 30 minutes.
In total, 10 different players in the Red and Blue scored in Penn's 66-33 win at Leede Arena.
UP NEXT?
Penn returns to The Palestra for the next Ivy League weekend, hosting Columbia on Friday and then Cornell on Sunday. Both tips are scheduled for 7 p.m.
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