PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team is back on its home court this weekend, taking on Harvard Saturday afternoon in The Palestra.  
 
GAME 23: PENN (14-8, 6-3 Ivy) vs HARVARD (14-7, 7-2 Ivy)
Saturday, February 11, 2023 | 2:00 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | The Palestra
Watch (NBC Sports Philadelphia+/ESPN+) | Live Stats | History
 
Pregame Festivities
Penn will be hosting a National Girls and Women in Sports clinic in Rockwell Gymnasium on Saturday at noon where we'll welcome young girls to learn a variety of sports from Penn female student-athletes. For just $8, they'll gain access to the clinic, a food voucher, a ticket to the game against Harvard, and be a part of an autograph session following the game. To sign up, click HERE and use the promo code "NGWSD".
 
For Penn students, we'll also be hosting a pregame tailgate in The Palestra beginning at 1 p.m., that will have free food and t-shirts for the first 150 students, while supplies last.  
 
The Series With Harvard
The Quakers are meeting the Crimson for the 91st time in program history with Harvard holding the 54-36 edge in the series. In The Palestra, the series in knotted at 22-22. However, the Quakers have won 9 out of the last 10 matchups with the Crimson in The Palestra dating back to the 2012-13 season. The only loss was last season in the first matchup against Harvard for the year. Over the past four regular-season series, the two squads have split each year. The Crimson won the first matchup this season in Cambridge. Penn averages 66.09 points per game in the 90 games, totaling 5,948.
 
Last Time We Met
Penn fell in the first matchup of the season up at Harvard on January 28, 84-60. Senior captain Mandy McGurk led all Quaker scorers with 27 points on 8-for-19 shooting and three from beyond the arc, while adding 8-for-10 at the line. She fell one point shy of a career high in points, a mark she set in the Ivy opener at home against Brown. Senior captain Kayla Padilla added 10 points and five rebounds, while junior Jordan Obi had a well-round stat line with nine points, six rebounds, five assists, and a block. For the Crimson, four of the five starters finished in double figures for scoring led by Elena Rodriguez with 28 points on 11-for-14 shooting.
 
About The Crimson
Harvard enters the weekend with a 14-7 overall record and sits tied atop the Ivy League standings with a 7-2 tally. The Crimson, tied with Columbia and Princeton in the conference and just one game ahead of the Quakers, are riding a five-game winning streak. During that stretch, they have topped four road league opponents in Dartmouth (68-52), Cornell (66-53), Yale (67-54), and Brown (74-61), while defeating the Quakers at home. In their last matchup at Brown, Harmoni Turner paced the Crimson in points and rebounds, posting a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Turner currently sits second in the Ivy League in scoring with 17.2 points per game, only behind Columbia's Abbey Hsu (17.5 ppg).
 
Scoring Threats Clash
Saturday's game will sport four of the top seven scorers in the Ivy League, two from the Quakers and two from the Crimson. As mentioned, Turner currently sits second in the league in scoring, but Padilla is knocking on the door for the third spot at 16.4 points per game. Harvard's Lola Mullaney, who just scored her 1,000 career point last Friday at Yale, ranks fifth at 14.9. Obi comes in at seventh in the rankings at 13.3.
 
Moving Up The List
Padilla has steadily moved up the all-time scoring list in Penn history, currently sitting with 1,201 points through 69 games for 12th in the record book. A 21-point performance against Yale several weekends ago moved her past former teammate Eleah Parker into 12th, with her eyes on Cheryl Rath's spot next. Rath finished her career in 1989 with 1,202 points for 11th in program history. The top 10 isn't far off either. At No. 10 is Joey Rhoads, graduating in 2007 with 1,210 points, while No. 9 is held by 2005 grad Karen Habrukowich with 1,217.
 
With a seven three-point effort last game at Cornell, the senior captain shifted into a tie for second in program history in three-point field goals with 186 for her career. She is tied with former teammate Phoebe Sterba, who graduated in 2020. The top spot is in striking distance, currently occupied by Habrukowich with 196.