PHILADELPHIA – For the second time in three nights, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team set a season-high in scoring, defeating Stony Brook, 73-53, at The Palestra Thursday night.
 
Quaker Notemeal
* Four players finished in double figures for Penn, senior captain Mandy McGurk leading the charge with 18, junior Jordan Obi close behind with 16, freshman Simone Sawyer finishing with 12, and junior Floor Toonders adding 11.
 
* Toonders recorded her first collegiate double-double, adding 11 rebounds and a career-high three blocks to complete her big night on both ends of the floor.
 
* McGurk's output was a new career mark, surpassing her previous tally of 17 set last season against King's, thanks in large part to a career-high four three-pointers.
 
* Senior captain Kayla Padilla flirted with a triple-double, finishing with seven points, seven assists, and a tied career-high nine rebounds.
 
* As a team, Penn tied a season-high for three-pointers with 12, just its second time hitting 10 or more from beyond the arc this year.
 
*The Quakers finished with 20 assists and 10 steals; both marks the second-highest totals this season.
 
* Penn posted a 20-point win for the first time since a 79-54 victory over Dartmouth on February 26. 
 
How It Happened
Picking up right where they left off from a season-best shooting performance against La Salle Tuesday night, the Quakers started the game on a 12-2 spurt, hitting six of their first 10 shots, forcing an early Stony Brook timeout.
 
The momentum continued out of the timeout, with the defense forcing turnovers on each of the next two Stony Brook possessions while upping the lead to 17-2.

1Q 3:50 | Penn 17, Stony Brook 2

It's been a fun four minutes... Quakers on a 15-2 run! Capped it off with this great series resulting in a three from McGurk.#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/LcTiEG0sBP

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) December 2, 2022

 
Seven straight from the Seawolves trimmed the deficit back under 10 before sophomore Stina Almqvist drained a three to put Penn up 20-9 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Layups on each of Stony Brook's first three possessions in the second quarter forced a Penn timeout with the Quaker lead cut to seven, 22-15.
 
The Penn defense stepped up coming out of the break, holding Stony Brook without a field goal for the next three-plus minutes, opening a 35-18 lead. The lead ebbed and flowed between 13 and 17 over the final four minutes of the half as Penn took a 41-26 lead to the locker room.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers from Toonders and McGurk pushed the lead to 20 in the opening 90 seconds of the second half.

4Q 9:29 | Penn 60, Stony Brook 46

And there it is... that three pushes McGurk to a new career high! She has 18 tonight on 6-for-10 shooting with four threes!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/KmUIvbei9r

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) December 2, 2022

 
Momentum swung back and forth through the final eight minutes of the frame, with the Seawolves closing the margin to 13, Penn pushing it back up to 19, and the Seawolves clawing back within 11, 57-46, at the end of the quarter.
 
That was as close as the Seawolves got, however, as the Quakers held Stony Brook to just seven fourth-quarter points, just the second time this season Penn held an opponent under eight points in a quarter.
 
Up Next
The Quakers continue their long homestand on Tuesday against Bucknell. Tip is set for 7 p.m., in The Palestra.