PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will host the regular-season finale on Friday night in The Palestra, taking on rival Princeton for Senior Night.
 
GAME 27: PENN (17-9, 8-4 Ivy) vs PRINCETON (20-5, 11-2 Ivy)
Friday, March 3, 2023 | 7:00 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | The Palestra
Watch (ESPN+/NBCSports Philly+) | Live Stats | History
 
Honoring The Class of 2023
Prior to today's game, the Quakers will honor their five graduating seniors: Sydnei Caldwell, Mandy McGurk, Silke Milliman, Faye Parker, and Kayla Padilla. Four of the seniors have been with the team since 2019-20, while Caldwell joined for her final two seasons of her collegiate career after two years with Arizona State.
 
The Series With Princeton
The Quakers are meeting the Tigers for the 93rd time in program history with Princeton holding the 63-29 lead in the all-time series. In 45 games at The Palestra, Penn has won 15. The last time was in 2017 when the Quakers won back-to-back weeks against the Tigers including the Ivy League title on March 12, 57-48, to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament. Princeton has won the last seven matchups, with the Quakers last victory coming in January 2019 at Jadwin Gymnasium, 66-60. Penn has scored 5,317 points in 92 matchups, averaging 57.8 per game.
 
Last Time We Met
The two teams clashed in Jersey on January 16 this season, as the Tigers held out for a 55-40 decision on their homecourt. Jordan Obi led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting, while Padilla added 15 points to go with three steals, two assists, and two rebounds. Penn's largest lead of the game was six points, opening the game on an 8-2 stretch. The Tigers had three players find double figures led by Madision St. Rose with 15 points, and Julia Cunningham and Grace Stone combined for 21.
 
About The Tigers
Princeton enters the game on a 12-game winning streak, looking for at least a share of the Ivy League regular-season title. Entering the final game of the regular season, they sit atop the Ivy League standings with Columbia at 11-2. The Tigers' two losses in league play were the first two of season, falling to Harvard (67-59) and Columbia (58-55, OT), the other two teams going to Ivy Madness.
 
Moving Up The List
Padilla has steadily moved up the all-time scoring list in Penn history, currently sitting with 1,297 points through 73 games for seventh in the record book. Last weekend, she totaled 23 points at Dartmouth, her fifth straight 20-plus point performance, to move her past Dionne Anthon (1988-92) into seventh. To get to sixth, she'll need to catch 2016 Ivy League Player of the Year and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Sydney Stipanovich (2013-17) who finished her career with 1,386 points.
 
Eyes On The Last Three-Point Record
With a five three-point effort at Brown two weeks ago, Padilla became the program's career three-point leader with 200. She bypassed Karen Habrukowich (2001-05) with 196 on her second bucket against the Bears. She added another outing at Dartmouth with five more threes, the third straight game with five to bring her career total to 205.
 
The senior captain now owns two three-point records in program history and has one more to finish the trifecta. Last season, she became the single-game leader with nine three-pointers against Memphis. For the 2022-23 slate, she currently has 76 threes, needing one more to tie the program record set back in the 1999-00 season by Mandy West of 77.
 
She is one of just two players in all of Division I that currently averages at least 17.5 points, 2.9 three-pointers, and 3.5 assists per game. The only other player is Iowa's Caitlin Clark at 27 points, 3.3 three-pointers, and 8.1 assists per game.
 
Defense Wins Ball Games
The Quakers currently sport the second-best scoring defense in the Ivy League, only allowing 58.2 points per game to opponents. The only team better is Princeton at 52.9, while the other six teams allow more than 61. Penn ranks second in the league in rebounds at 38.2 per game (994 total), behind Columbia at 43.5. The Quakers have two players ranked in the top five in the league in rebound: Obi (7.5) and Floor Toonders (7.8). Toonders also leads the conference in blocks with 30 for the season, while McGurk ranks ninth in steals with 46.
 
A Look Ahead
The regular season concludes this weekend and all four Ivy teams have already punched their tickets to Ivy Madness at Jadwin Gymnasium for March 10-11: Columbia, Princeton, Penn, and Harvard. Seeding will be determined following this weekend's games, as Princeton and Columbia currently sit tied for the No. 1 seed, Penn is at No. 3, and Harvard at No. 4. This year's Ivy Madness will be the fifth installment, with the inaugural tournament taking place back in 2017. Penn won the first one at The Palestra. This is the first time Ivy Madness is being held at Jadwin Gymnasium.
 
The semifinals, both airing on ESPN+, take place Friday at 4:30 p.m., for the No. 1-No. 4 matchup and 7 p.m., for the No. 2-No. 3 matchup. The championship on Saturday is set for 5 p.m., on ESPNews. You can purchase your tickets today HERE.