CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team shipped back home from Boston with a crucial overtime victory on Saturday night at Harvard, 87-78, rounding out the five minutes of extra time with a 12-3 run.
 
With the win, the Quakers move to 4-5 in the Ivy League, just 1.5 games behind the Crimson who sits in fourth place in the standings.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior Kayla Padilla led all Penn scorers with 23, including 8-for-9 at the free throw line. It was her seventh game this season with 20-plus points. She added a career- and game-high seven assists, three blocks, and two steals.
 
*Senior Kennedy Suttle earned another double-double for the season with 19 points and 16 rebounds, going 7-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the line. The 19 points is a career high for the captain, and she missed tying her career mark in rebounds by one, setting it at 17 at St. Francis Brooklyn earlier this season.
 
*Sophomore Jordan Obi notched her second-straight double-double, the fifth of the season, with 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was her fourth 20-plus game of the season and her 11th-straight game in double-figures scoring. She shot 3-for-4 from deep, while going 7-for-8 at the line. Her 12 rebounds tied a career mark, registering 12 three times this season.
 
*Off the bench, freshman Stina Almqvist knocked in 15 points and adding six rebounds. She scored all 15 points in the second half, including 11 in the fourth.
 
*The 87 points by Penn was the highest total of the season against a Division I opponent.
 
*At a 45.9 percent shooting clip, it was the Quakers' highest percentage since December 30 at home against Division III Ursinus with a 54.9 percent.
 
*Penn won the rebound game, 57-40. The 57 is the highest mark of the season, and second time pulling in more than 50. The other game was at Brown, recording 53.
 
How It Happened
In a packed Lavietes Pavilion, the Quakers came out quick with the first six points of the game. Suttle put away two layups, while Padilla split them with a jumper of her own.
 

QUICK 6-0 start for the Quakers including this perfect connection between Padilla and Suttle! Textbook stuff right here!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/bUn3tPBau0

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 12, 2022

 
Obi came to life after the Crimson closed the gap two minutes later, 6-5, knocking in 10 of the final 13 points for the Quakers in the quarter including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Senior Mia Lakstigala had the other three points, knocking in one from beyond the arc to help Penn carry a 19-13 lead into the first break.
 
The advantage continued to grow for the Quakers early in the second, hitting their first double-digit lead by the 7:46 mark, 25-15, when Obi went 2-for-2 at the free throw line. The sophomore continued to impress, knocking down a step-back three midway through the second.
 

In a celebration of #TheBeard coming to Philly, Jordan Obi dedicates this beautiful step-back three to you @jharden13!

Quakers back up 10 in the second quarter!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/lhhqVwcukP

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 12, 2022

 
The lead grew to as much as 17 with 1:43 left in the half after Lakstigala drilled another from beyond the arc and Padilla hit jumper in the lane. At the half, Obi and Padilla combined for 29 points, as the Quakers shot 51.7 percent from the floor.
 
Out of the locker room, the Crimson regathered and started to chip away at their deficit. Harvard held Obi and Padilla, the game's leading scorers at the time, scoreless in the third, but the Quakers had offense produced elsewhere. Off the bench, Almqvist hit two buckets including a tough drive on the baseline.
 

Stina Almqvist giving great minutes off the bench! Two buckets here in the second quarter including this baseline drive! #FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/wkzwAJiUWx

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 12, 2022

 
By the end of the third, scoring came from Suttle, Almqvist and McGurk, as Penn held onto a 51-40 lead heading to the final frame.
 
The fourth turned out to be the highest total points of the season, as the Crimson and Quakers combined for 59 points. By the 5:15 mark of the fourth, Harvard had trimmed the Penn lead to six with a 5-0 run.
 
Down the stretch, the game got tight, but the Quakers never trailed. With less than two minutes left, back-to-back strong finishes by Suttle put Penn ahead by eight and pushed Suttle into her double-double.
 
In the closing minutes, the Quakers were sent to the line for eight free throw attempts. Almqvist and Suttle took all of them, going 6-for-8. However, the Crimson, down three with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, still had an opportunity. Coming out of a timeout, Harvard missed its first three attempt, but an offensive rebound gave the Crimson another shot which they drained with four seconds left to tie it up, 75-75.
 
The Quakers were able to get a shot off in the closing seconds, a baseline jumper by Obi, but the ball rimmed out and sent the game to overtime.
 
In the five-minute extra period, Penn couldn't be slowed down. The Quakers outscored the Crimson, 12-3, while holding them to 1-for-11 shooting. Finding their way to the line, Penn went 8-for-10 and added to layups by Obi and Padilla to seal up the critical Ivy victory.
 

Kayla Padilla! Steal and transition! Penn up 10 with 1:45 remaining in OT!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/5H3PfAdSJl

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 13, 2022

 
Up Next
The Quakers return home for another Ivy weekend on Friday and Saturday. They will host Yale on Friday night and follow with Brown on Saturday. Both games are set to tip at 6 p.m., in The Palestra.