NEW HAVEN – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team flipped a double-digit, second-half deficit into a 53-51 road triumph over Yale on Saturday evening to capture its fifth consecutive Ivy League win.
Three different Quakers scored at least 11, led by Phoebe Sterba's 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting while Kendall Grasela and Kayla Padilla each added 11. Tori Crawford ripped down a team-high 11 rebounds, including one on a missed free throw with less than three seconds left to seal the win.
Penn surges to 5-2 in league play after an 0-2 start and into second place before heading back to Philadelphia for a pair of home games next weekend.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Penn is now 4-1 this season when commiting fewer than 10 turnovers and 34-15 all-time under Mike McLaughlin.
*Conversely, the Quakers are 9-3 this year and 112-54 under McLaughlin when forcing more than 15 turnovers in a game.
*Penn's 10-point second-half deficit is the largest it overcame to win a game this season.
*Phoebe Sterba finished in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games.
*Tori Crawford recorded her second game this season with at least 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Yale hit first, opening up an 8-2 advantage through the two minutes of the game. The Bulldogs eventually widened their lead to nine at 13-4 behind 11 points from Roxy Barahman. At that point, though, Eleah Parker began to work in the post. She scored twice, but Penn still trailed by nine at 17-8 with just over a minute to play in the first quarter.
The Quakers ended the final 1:09 on an 8-0, spurred on by five points from Phoebe Sterba and a three from the wing from Kayla Padilla to claw within one, at 17-16, after 10 minutes. Penn took its first lead of the evening when Sterba ran around a screen and drilled a three from the wing to move ahead 19-17. Michae Jones earned two strong points with a baseline drive and then Sterba knocked down a corner three off an inbound play to take the lead once again at 24-21 with 7:27 to play in the half.
Mia Lakstigala entered the game during the second quarter and influenced the game on the offensive end. Her aggressiveness and ability to get to the rim drew a pair of fouls and trips to the charity stripe. Scoring slowed for both teams in the second quarter and Lakstigala's three free throws were the only points for the Quakers for the final 7:27 of the half. During that stretch, Yale turned a three-point deficit to a five-point lead at the break mostly at the line with five free throws.
Parker scored to open the second half, but Yale quickly answered with seven consecutive points to turn that three-point game into a 10-point lead with 6:23 to play in the third. Penn hit with another counter, though, ignited by a floater from Padilla and then a nifty pump and drive from Grasela to make it a six-point game. Padilla, in the final minute of the third, stepped back and drilled a three to end the quarter down just four, at 40-36.
On the first possession of the fourth, Padilla canned a corner three after a brilliant extra pass from Grasela. Penn snatched the lead away from the Bulldogs with 9:05 left when Sterba converted on a pair from the line to lead 41-40.
Grasela drilled a three from the wing to push the lead to four and then hit a runner but the lead was quickly eliminated as Yale deadlocked the score at 46-46 with 3:38 to go. The Quakers scored on consecutive possessions with Sterba laying one in on a fastbreak and then Crawford rattled her shot home to make it 50-46 with 1:47 left. After a Yale bucket, Grasela cut to the rim again for a right-handed scoop but still, with less than 20 seconds left, the Bulldogs had a chance to tie or win down just two.
Penn got called for a foul and, after the first free throw went in, Crawford rose up and ripped down the board on the second. She hit on one free throw and then Jones stole the inbound to seal the 53-51 win in New Haven.
UP NEXT?
Penn returns to The Palestra next weekend to host Dartmouth on Friday, Feb. 21 and then Harvard on Saturday, Feb. 22.
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