PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get within two but fell short to Villanova on Monday night in The Palestra, 66-63, in the first Big 5 matchup of the season.
 
Led by a 24-point performance by sophomore Jordan Obi, the Quakers shot 50 percent from the floor while holding the Wildcats to 40 percent. Penn falls for the first time this season, 3-1, and Villanova moves to 2-2.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Obi has scored 20-plus points in two of her first four collegiate games with both coming in The Palestra. She is averaging 26.5 points on 65-percent shooting on her home court, including a 4-for-6 clip from three.
 
*Junior Mandy McGurk and freshman Lizzy Groetsch each had double-figure scoring nights, dropping 12 and 10, respectively. Groetsch's 10 points marked a new career high, while adding a career-best and game-high four steals.
 
*The Quakers forced the Wildcats into 19 turnovers, the second most this season by Villanova. The only other team that forced them into more was Princeton, causing 20 turnovers.
 
*Penn registered 13 steals for the game with seven different Quakers registering at least one. Three out of the four games this season, Penn has recorded double-digit steals with 13 being the highest mark of the year.
 
How It Happened
The first Big 5 game of the year always builds the hype and Monday night's game didn't disappoint. Right out of the gates, the opening 10 minutes proved a battle both ways, drawing a 13-13 score at the first break.
 
Junior Silke Milliman got the scoring started in the game, nailing a hook shot in the paint on the first possession. The lead shifted three times and tied twice in the first frame, as Penn erased an early six-point deficit with six straight points to end the quarter off layups by freshmen Stina Almqvist and Groetsch and two more free throws by Groetsch.
 
In the second quarter, neither team built up more than a three-point advantage throughout, trading the lead seven more times with five ties. At this point, Penn built its largest lead of three by the 2:08 mark before the half when Obi drilled her second three-pointer of the quarter to make it 31-28.

2Q 2:07 | Penn 31, Villanova 28

JORDAN OBI drills her second three of the night! She leads all scorers with 12 in the first half!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/qxlEvGloR3

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) November 23, 2021

 
At the half, Obi led the Quaker with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting with a perfect 2-for-2 from long range, as the score went into the locker room knotted up at 33-33.
 
The third frame saw the Wildcats break the draw with the first eight points off the restart, eventually getting to as high as nine. McGurk scored the final four points for the Quakers in the quarter, cutting the Villanova advantage to seven entering the fourth.
 
The energy started to build for Penn with six minutes left in regulation after the Wildcats reached their largest lead of the game of 12 points. The defense held Villanova to just six points in the final six minutes, and the momentum translated to the other side of the court where Penn eased its way back into contention.
 
Obi ignited the stretch with a strong layup through traffic before McGurk went back-to-back on jumpers to force a Wildcat timeout. Trailing by just six with less than three minutes left, freshman Marianna Papazoglou gave valuable minutes off the bench and picked the right time to score her first collegiate points on a drive from the left wing to erupt The Palestra in cheering with a four-point game, 62-58.

4Q 3:25 | Villanova 62, Penn 58

Marianna Papazoglou earns her first collegiate basket in a much needed time! Great take by the freshman! pic.twitter.com/Qnbn2K9b8o

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) November 23, 2021

 
With two minutes left, McGurk continued her great night pulling down an offensive rebound and putting it back up for the layup to get the Quakers within two, the closest Penn was to the Wildcats since the start of the second half. Villanova responded with a three-pointer that could have dropped the heads of the Penn players, however, Obi had her own plans, dropping her third three of the game with 23 seconds remaining to cut the game to two.

4Q :23.5 | Villanova 65, Penn 63

THREE POINTER... JORDAN OBI!!! Quakers draw within a bucket of the Wildcats with 23.5 seconds left in regulation! #FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/uwnggvqLU8

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) November 23, 2021

 
Villanova was sent to the line in the final 10 seconds, hitting 1-of-2 to take a three-point lead. Pushing the ball up the court in the closing seconds, Groetsch fired off a three attempt at the top of the arc but missed just left on the rim.
 
Up Next
The Quakers will look to bounce back over the Thanksgiving break, traveling to the west coast for the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic in Los Angeles. They open the tournament on Friday against UC San Diego before taking on Memphis on Saturday. Both games are set for 6:30 p.m., eastern time.