NEW YORK – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team completed 40 minutes of terrific effort on the defensive end to defeat Columbia 51-36 at Levien Gymnasium.
Freshman Kayla Padilla scored a team-high 12 points while three others – Phoebe Sterba, Eleah Parker and Mia Lakstigala – finished with nine points apiece. Parker was an absolute menace on the glass and defensive end, gobbling up a career-high 19 rebounds while matching her career high with seven blocks.
As a team, Penn recorded 11 blocks, easily a season high and allowed only 15 second-half points, including just four in the third quarter.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*The Red and Blue captured the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League Tournament with a 10-4 record in league play.
*This marks the 10th season in which Penn won 10 games in the Ivy League and seventh in a row.
*In all four Ivy League Tournaments, Penn has earned one of the top-two seeds.
*Penn is now 31-0 when allowing less than 40 points in a game.
*The Quakers combined for 11 blocks, a season high. Seven of those blocks came from Eleah Parker, matching a career high.
*Parker also ripped down a career-high 19 blocks.
*Kennedy Suttle also had a tremendous day on the boards, grabbing 10 of them.
*For the fourth time this season, Penn limited its opponents to just four points in a quarter. The Lions scored just four in the third.
*The Quakers entered the weekend 17th in the country in scoring defense with an average of 55.1 but allowed only 46 against Cornell and 36 to Columbia.
*Phoebe Sterba made three more long balls, just 10 shy of the all-time career program record.
*The Quakers outscored Columbia 21-7 on second-chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Much like Friday night's first quarter, Phoebe Sterba got started early, banging a pair of threes inside the opening five minutes. Kennedy Suttle also provided a bunch of issues for Columbia's interior defense, converting on a pair of early baskets. Penn eventually took a 14-8 lead by the first media timeout. Outside of the break, sophomore Mia Lakstigala was inserted and gave instant offense, pump faking and then driving into the lane for a floater. The lead expanded to 10 at 18-8 when Eleah Parker snatched a pair of offensive rebounds and converted her putback.
Columbia's Janiya Clemmons drilled two threes to claw within four before Lakstigala collected a pass from Parker and made her layup to take a 20-14 lead after 10 minutes. Penn built the lead the eight after Kendall Grasela, just a night after a career-high seven steals, grabbed a loose ball and fed it ahead to a streaking Lakstigala for two more. The sophomore opened 3-for-3 from the field for six points off the bench. Both teams remained scoreless until 6:13 was left in the half when Emily Anderson entered the game and made a pair at the free throw line.
With just over four minutes left in the half, the Lions inched back within nine at 26-17, but Sterba promptly canned her third three of the first half, this time from straightaway center to push it to 12 once more and then Kayla Padilla took over the rest of the way. Over the final 3:21, Penn's freshman scored her first points of the game, but all of the Quakers' six final tallies on three attempts to close the half with a 35-21 advantage.
The second half began with a frantic pace, with both teams rushing up and down the court but without much success on the offensive end. After 5:14 at the first media timeout, just a combined six points were added to the score. Two of them came from Grasela, whose jumper allowed Penn to take a 37-25 lead into the timeout with 4:46 left in the third.
Outside of the timeout, Padilla broke the over four minute spell with a brilliant turnaround bucket and then sprinted in transition to find a hustling Parker for two more, widening the lead to 41-25. On the ensuing defensive possession, Parker made a stand around the rim, swatting away consecutive shots from the Lions' Abbey Hsu. The blocks forced a timeout and then a shot clock violation. Parker and Suttle were absolute menaces on the glass, repeatedly battling for loose balls on both the offensive and defensive ends.
In the final minute of the third, with a 42-25 lead, Parker batted another shot away and disrupted another.
With their backs against the wall, the Lions opened the final period with a flurry, trying to rip the momentum back from the Quakers. Columbia closed within 42-29 in the first minute and a half. Lakstigala answered with a dagger three from the top of the key.
Columbia again closed to 12 with four minutes left, but Penn came out of the timeout with an easy look for Parker. With two minutes left, the lead was 11, but game management down the stretch and another huge offensive rebound for Suttle allowed the Quakers to run the clock and seal a 51-36.
UP NEXT?
The Quakers are headed to the Ivy League Tournament next weekend in Cambridge, Mass., beginning with the semifinals on Friday night, March 13.
#FightOnPenn
