ITHACA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team jumped in front early and sped away from Cornell, 67-46, on Friday night at Newman Arena.
Eleah Parker and Kayla Padilla each scored 16 points while Kendall Grasela stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of nine points, nine assists, a career-high seven steals, four rebounds and a block.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Penn entered the night 15-2 when winning the points-off-turnovers category. The Quakers eviscerated Cornell to a 20-0 advantage.
*The Quakers improve to 115-2 under Mike McLaughlin when scoring at least 60 points in regulation games.
*When allowing less than 50 points under McLaughlin, Penn is now 101-5.
*The Quakers have now won eight in a row against Cornell, seven of them by double digits.
*Penn turned Cornell over 24 times, just three shy of the best mark under McLaughlin, set earlier this year against Stetson at The Palestra.
*Eleah Parker finished with 16 points, her eighth game this year with at least 15. In the same vein, Kayla Padilla also contributed 16, the 19th time she's done that.
*Kendall Grasela set a career high with seven steals and matched her best mark in rebounds with nine, the third time she's grabbed nine in a game this season.
*Kennedy Suttle was a game-high +27 with a line of nine points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With a pair of three pointers in the opening four minutes, Penn opened an 8-3 lead with 6:09 to play. Penn created its separation with its ability to turn the Big Red over. In the opening 3:51, the Quakers forced five turnovers while both Phoebe Sterba and Kayla Padilla hit treys early on. The other points, the opening two, came from a strong drive from Kendall Grasela.
After some free throws by Cornell, Eleah Parker entered the fold with back-to-back baskets right around the rim to make it 12-7 before Sterba drilled her second and third threes from straightaway, extending the lead to 18-7. Penn took an 11-point lead, at 20-9, at the end of the first quarter after Michae Jones and Grasela each split free throws.
Cornell began to close a bit nearing the midway point of the second quarter, largely because its ability to rebound on the offensive end. With 5:41 to play in the half, the Big Red held a 16-8 advantage on the glass. The Quakers hit back quickly, though, as Parker shot Kennedy Suttle a dart in the lane for an easy two before Grasela whipped a nasty one-handed bounce pass to a bolting Padilla down the court for a layup. Two trips later, Grasela was fouled going to the rim and then, after a technical foul on the Big Red, converted four consecutive shots from the free throw line.
Penn eventually unleashed a 10-0 run after Parker dove off a screen and converted the bucket, pushing the lead to 34-18 with 3:24 to play. Before the half, Jones added five points with a pair at the line and a buried three to make it 39-24 at the intermission. At the break, five different Quakers had at least five points without one breaking into double figures. Grasela stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, five assists, four steals, three rebounds and a block after 20 minutes.
In the third quarter, Padilla scored five points in just 25 seconds, converting a layup and then a corner three; both baskets came in transition and both came off Grasela assists, upping the advantage to 44-26 with 8:22 to play in the third. Both teams went almost three minutes with a bucket but Parker ended the drought off a terrific lob from Padilla. Parker scored on the next possession too, this time coming off a bullet from Sterba to the center on the left block. That basket forced a timeout with Penn leading 49-28 just passed the midway point of the third. The Quakers continued the spurt with a score from Suttle and then two free throws from Grasela, capping a 9-0 run and a 53-28 lead.
The Big Red scored just seven points in the third enabling Penn to take a 56-31 lead after 30 minutes behind yet another Suttle basket in the final minute.
Mia Lakstigala scored the quarter's first points, tearing down the floor for a layup plus the foul. Parker made it 60-31 when she ripped down an offensive board and banked in her putback with 8:41 to play. Down the stretch, Penn sealed a 67-46 victory in Ithaca.
UP NEXT?
The Quakers wrap the regular-season slate on Saturday, March 7 at Columbia before entering the Ivy League Tournament next weekend in Cambridge.
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