NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Ticket punched! The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team is headed back to Ivy Madness in March after rolling past Yale Friday night on the road, 72-58.
 
The Quakers moves to 16-8 for the season, 8-3 in conference play to sit alone at No. 3 in the standings. They sit one game out of the top spot where Columbia and Princeton are tied at 9-2, and one game ahead of Harvard at 7-4.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Senior captain Kayla Padilla led all scorers with 25 points (9-for-18), including five three-pointers. She now sits just one three-pointer shy of tying the program record of 196 set by Karen Habrukowich in 2005. She added a team-high four assists.
 
*Junior Jordan Obi secured her fifth double-double of the season and 12th of her career, recording 15 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 5-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the line.
 

3Q 6:00 | Penn 40, Yale 26

With the touch! Jordan Obi has already notched her fifth double-double of the season with this finish, 12th of her career!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/BgwG2KtJ8R

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 18, 2023

 
*Freshman Simone Sawyer added 12 points for her second straight game in double figures, to go with three assists and two steals.
 
*Senior captain Mandy McGurk had a consistent eight points on 3-for-4 shooting and 2-for-2 from deep, while adding a game-high four steals.
 
*Junior Floor Toonders added six points, six rebounds, and three assists over 35 minutes of play.
 
*Off the bench, senior Sydnei Caldwell chipped in five points and sophomore Lizzy Groetsch added a point at the free throw line.
 
*For the game, the Quakers shot 48.1 percent from the floor (26-for-54), while forcing the Bulldogs into 19 turnovers and just 36.5-percent shooting. Penn converted 17 points off the Yale turnovers.
 
How It Happened
The game started out tight through the entire first quarter with neither team having more than a three-point advantage, but it was Penn that led through the first frame, 14-11, after four ties. Much of that success came from the hands of Padilla, knocking in 10 points of the 14 with two from beyond the arc.
 

1Q 4:15 | Penn 9, Yale 9

Made it to the first media timeout and there's already been four ties in the game with neither team having more than a three point advantage. Padilla with 7 of the 9 for the Quakers so far.

Going to be a good one in New Haven!#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/nlBrUMS2XP

— Penn WBB (@PennWBB) February 17, 2023

 
Her hot hand rolled right into the second quarter, drilling a three on the restart and following it with a jumper off a dish from Toonders to push the lead to 19-11. After a free throw by the Bulldogs, she added her fourth from deep to give the Quakers their first double-digit advantage of the game, 22-12, while the senior captain already bolstered 18 points by the 6:22 mark of the second.
 
The three by Padilla ignited a 7-0 stretch for Penn, as Toonders followed with a layup and Obi added a pair of free throws to give the Quakers their largest lead of the half, 26-12.
 
In the closing 3:30 of the half, the Bulldogs went 4-for-5 from the floor to surround another Toonders' bucket and Sawyer free throw to close the gap to seven at the break, 29-22.
 
Penn shot 44 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while holding Yale to just 31 percent.
 
Out of the break, the Quakers found their stride early when Obi connected on a layup in the first possession. A minute later, McGurk hit her first of two threes of the game to put Penn out ahead by double digits again, a statement that held the rest of the way.
 
By the 1:46 mark of the third, Sawyer connected on a three-pointer to push the advantage out to 20, then Caldwell capped off the frame with a buzzer beater three in the left corner to give the Quakers a 57-36 lead headed to the fourth.
 
The gap between the two squads ballooned to as much as 26 in the fourth with 3:53 remaining following a jumper by Sawyer. Although the Bulldogs chipped away at the deficit over the course of the closing minutes, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome as they got as close as 14.
 
Up Next
The Quakers wrap up another Ivy League weekend tomorrow evening in Providence at Brown. Tip is set for 5 p.m., on ESPN3.