PHILADELPHIA – Four Quakers put up double figures in scoring led by a 27-point effort from senior captain Kayla Padilla as the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team held off Harvard in The Palestra on Saturday afternoon for a 70-64 victory.
 
The Quakers move to 7-3 in Ivy League play, a tie for third place with the Crimson.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Padilla put up 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three-point range. With her 27 points, she jumped three spots in the program all-time scoring list to No. 9, now sitting with 1,228 points. She bypassed Cheryl Rath (1995-89), Joey Rhoads (2003-07), and Karen Habrukowich (2001-05).

Moving up the list!! Kayla Padilla has jumped three spots in program history for scoring today... With this three, she moves to No. 9 in scoring with 1,219 points in less than three seasons!

She moves past Cheryl Rath, Joey Rhoads and Karen Habrukowich. pic.twitter.com/nrLqFdImc2

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 11, 2023

 
*Her four three-pointers moves her closer to the program record in all-time three-point field goals, a mark set by Habrukowich back in 2005 of 196. Padilla has 190 for her career with four games left in the regular season.
 
*Padilla also had a game-high eight assists, her highest mark of the season.
 
*Freshman Simone Sawyer drilled five three-pointers for the game for 15 points. She was one three shy of matching her season high that she set at San Francisco.
 
*Junior Jordan Obi notched her fourth double-double of the season and 11th of her career with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She shot a consistent 5-for-7 from the floor.
 
*Junior Floor Toonders added 11 points, also on 5-for-7 shooting, to go with five rebounds and two assists.
 
How It Happened
The game kicked off with a pair of runs, as the Quakers scored the first five points off an Obi layup and a Sawyer stepback three-pointer. However, the Crimson responded with a stretch of their own, hitting a 9-0 stretch to take the advantage.
 
Penn battled back to tie it up at 12-12 after an and-one finish by Padilla and reclaimed the lead after another three by the senior captain, but Harvard carried the 18-15 lead after the first frame.
 
The second quarter played heavily into favor of the Quakers, outscoring Harvard 19-7. Penn opened the frame with a second three by Sawyer and Sydnei Caldwell followed with a pair of free throws. A four-point stretch for Harvard game it the 22-20 lead again, but Padilla turned it on for the remaining 6:26 of the half.
 
Padilla put together a 9-0 stretch all from her hot hand including back-to-back shot clock buzzer beaters and a three from the right corner. Toonders and Sawyer capped off the scoring in the half, sandwiching a three by Harvard with a layup and another Sawyer three.

2Q 2:25 | Penn 29, Harvard 22

Quakers are hot out of the break, hitting a 9-0 run basically from the hot hand of Padilla! She hit back-to-back buckets at the shot clock buzzer then followed with a corner three!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/OM7mPxKEkM

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 11, 2023

 
The Quakers rode a 14-3 run over the final six minutes of the half, as they took a 34-25 advantage to the locker room led by Padilla with 15 points and five assists.
 
Out of the break, Penn picked up right where it left off with Sawyer connecting on back-to-back three-pointers to spread the advantage to 15 points and continue the momentum. Harvard traded buckets with the Quakers for much of the frame after that and got the Penn lead back down to single digits with 13 seconds left, but Obi found Toonders right before the horn to give the Quakers a 54-43 advantage at the beginning of the final quarter.
 

End 3Q | Penn 54, Harvard 43

Count it! Jordan Obi finds Floor Toonders wide open under the bucket to cap off the third quarter! Quakers shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the frame, currently 55.3 for the game.#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/cif7jNFAe7

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 11, 2023

In the fourth, a Padilla jumper and an Obi layup near the middle of the quarter pushed Penn out to its largest lead of the game of 17, 66-49, but the Crimson didn't go away. They used a 13-2 run over the course of four minutes to close the gap to just four, 68-64, with 20 seconds remaining.
 
Closing out the game at the free-throw line, Mandy McGurk and Caldwell each went 1-for-2 to hold out for the victory.
 
Up Next
The Quakers hit the road for their next three Ivy League matchups, playing a pair on Friday and Saturday next weekend. They'll start at Yale on Friday for a 6 p.m., tip before heading to Rhode Island Saturday for a bout with Brown at 5 p.m.