PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team bounced back on Saturday afternoon with its third Ivy League victory of the season, battling past Cornell in The Palestra, 71-61.
 
Behind a combined 34 points by Kayla Padilla and Jordan Obi, the Quakers improve to 8-12 for the year, 3-5 in the conference. The Big Red slip to 8-12, 2-6 in Ivy play.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Padilla led all scorers with 18 points and added six assists, six rebounds, two steals, and a block.
 
*Obi recorded her fourth double-double of the season, registering 16 points to go with 11 rebounds.
 
*Kennedy Suttle matched a career high with a game-high five steals. She added eight points and seven rebounds, while going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
 
*The Quakers shots 19-for-22 at the charity stripe. It was the second-most attempts of the season, only behind 29 attempts at Brown. The 19 made was the most all season, matching 19 against Brown.
 
*Penn nearly had a perfect shooting fourth quarter, going 6-for-6 from the floor including 2-for-2 from deep while knocking in 3-for-4 at the free throw line.
 
*It's the eighth game this season with double-digit steals, recording 11 on Saturday.
 
*The 71 points for the game is the most by Penn since December 30 against Ursinus (89-29).
 
*For the season, Penn is averaging 64 points per game, while only allowing 59.3 by its opponents.
 
How It Happened
There was no real separation in the game until midway through the third quarter, as the first quarter alone saw six lead changes and two ties. The Quakers earned their first lead of the game at 5-4 when Mia Lakstigala hit one of her two three-pointers in the opening five minutes.
 

1Q 4:28 | Penn 10, Cornell 10

Tied up at the first media timeout, as the Quakers have dropped in two threes so far from the hands of Mia Lakstigala and Stina Almqvist!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/1j8C1yCVWP

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 5, 2022

 
Off the bench, Stina Almqvist gave great first quarter minutes, hitting her first two three-point attempts to lead the Penn scoring through the first 10 minutes with six points.
 
Although trailing to start the second, Suttle knocked in two free throws before Sydnei Caldwell drilled a three of her own to push Penn ahead, 20-19. Through the quarter, neither team gained more than a three-point advantage until Obi hit two free throws in the final seconds before the half to give Penn a 36-31 gap to take to the locker room. Obi led all scorers at the break with 12 points, eight of which came in the second quarter.
 
There was no looking back heading into the third quarter, as Penn never trailed the rest of the way. Fresh out of the break, the Quakers put on heavy pressure, trapping the Big Red at half court to force a turnover and steal by Lakstigala.
 
Within the first three minutes, a Padilla and-one put Penn out to its first double-digit lead of the game, 42-31. While the offense was performing, so was the defense. As the Quakers built up a comfortable lead, much of the credit should go to the defensive side, holding Cornell scoreless for nearly three minutes in the third.
 
By the midway mark of the final quarter, the Quakers built up an 18-point advantage. However, the Big Red used an 11-2 run in the closing minutes to close the gap to just eight with 1:14 remaining. Avoiding the last-ditch comeback, Padilla knocked down a crucial three with 47 seconds left to halt the Cornell stretch to put the final touch on the game.
 

BIG TIME THREE by Kayla Padilla! Cornell made a run to get back within eight, but Padilla knocks one down at the top of the arc to put the final touch on the game! pic.twitter.com/F1Pr6DrSDm

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 5, 2022

 
Up Next
The Quakers take the week to prepare for an Ivy road trip to Massachusetts next Saturday, traveling to Harvard for a 5 p.m., tip.