PHILADELPHIA – Cornell had the lead halfway through the second quarter, but the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team proved to be a second-half squad once again to come away with a 67-54 victory Monday afternoon at The Palestra.
 
Stina Almqvist recorded her second straight double-double, pouring in 26 points with 10 rebounds as the Quakers improve to 10-6 overall, 2-1 in Ivy play.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn extends its win streak against Cornell to 13 straight games dating back to the 2016-17 season. The Quakers are now 39-9 all-time against the Big Red at The Palestra.
 
*The Quakers improve to 5-1 at home this season and have won five in a row dating back to Nov. 29 vs. La Salle.
 
*Stina Almqvist notched a career-high 26 points in the win. It's her sixth game with at least 20 points scored this season.
 
*Almqvist also recorded 10 rebounds, her second consecutive double-double. She had 15 points and 13 boards in Saturday's victory at Dartmouth.
 
*Jordan Obi scored 14 points with nine rebounds, Lizzy Groetsch had 10 points.
 
*Mataya Gayle finished with a game-high seven assists.
 
*Penn out-rebounded Cornell, 39-36, while outscoring the Big Red on fast-break points, 16-6.
 
*The Quakers held the Big Red without a three-point basket during the contest. Cornell was 0-for-7 from deep. They also shot just 34.9 percent (22-for-63) from the field.
 
How It Happened
It was a slim one-point lead lead for Penn after Lizzy Groetsch converted one of two shots at the free throw line just two minutes into the contest. A Jordan Obi triple made it 4-0, but Cornell found a way to knot it back up 90 seconds later.
 
An 8-4 lead for the Quakers quickly ballooned into a 6-2 run for the Big Red as Cornell tied the game up at 10-10 with 3:31 remaining on the first-quarter clock.
 
With 2:19 left in the frame, Stina Almqvist was fouled beyond-the-arc and made two of her three foul shots to give Penn the 12-10 edge. Cornell benefited from a technical foul call, scoring on two free throws and a layup to take a 14-12 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Almqvist scored the Quakers' first four points to begin the second stanza, tying the game at 16-16 with under eight minutes to play. Both teams kept the game close up until the media timeout at the 4:59 mark, tied 20-20.
 
Lizzy Groetsch put Penn up 25-21 with 3:36 to go in the half after getting fouled after converting a layup. Almqvist's trey a minute later put the Quakers on a 6-0 push, making it the largest lead of the game to that point at 28-21.
 
Cornell found a way to get the score close again to end the half, holding the Quakers without a point for nearly three minutes until Ese Ogbevire hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Penn a 30-25 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The Big Red opened the third quarter with the first points of the frame, cutting the deficit back to three points. The early momentum was halted a bit when Mike McLaughlin called a timeout. Penn utilized layups from Almqvist and Obi and a three-pointer from Marianna Papazoglou to extend the lead to 39-27 with 6:24 left.
 
The run got out to 9-0 and a 10-point cushion when Almqvist executed on the driving layup at the 5:41 mark. Cornell got as close as six points away with 2:26 left in the period, but back-to-back buckets from Obi put the Quakers back up by 10 with 1:38 remaining. Two straight baskets for the Big Red had Penn's lead at 48-41 heading into the fourth.
 
Penn held Cornell without a point in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter and maintained a 54-45 lead with 6:43 to go. Almqvist continued her hot hand, pouring in her ninth field goal make of the day to extend the Quaker lead back to 11 at 56-45 at the 6:15 mark.

The Red and Blue led by as many as 15 points with 1:55 to go, before Cornell cut the lead to as little as 12 in the closing minute of regulation. The Big Red fouling to close the contest, Penn emerged victorious, 64-57.
 
Up Next
The Quakers head north to The Bay State on Saturday to take on Harvard at 2 p.m.