CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team traveled up to Harvard for its first matchup of the season with the Crimson and fell, 69-56.
 
With the loss, Penn fell to 2-2 in Ivy League play and is 10-7 overall. Harvard improved to 3-1 in Ivy play and is also 10-7 overall..
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Freshman Mataya Gayle led the Quakers in scoring with 19 points, 13 of them coming in the first half, and shot 46.7 percent from the floor while also recording seven rebounds and three assists.
 
*Senior Jordan Obi had another double-double performance, her fourth of the season, with 15 points and 10 rebounds (which tied for game-high honors).
 
How It Happened
After a slow start from both teams in the opening two minutes, Gayle put on a one-woman show, hitting shot after shot to tally Penn's first eight points. However, Harvard wasn't backing down as the Crimson responded with back-to-back three-pointers to gain the early lead midway through the first.
 
With less than two minutes left in the quarter, the Red and Blue went on a 6-0 run led by tough defensive stops and fast-break points from Obi who hit back-to-back layups for a quick four.
 
With nine seconds left in the period, freshman Ese Ogbevire shook her defender with a crossover at the elbow and laid in a smooth finger roll that beat the buzzer. That tied the game at 14 going into the second,
 
Harvard opened the period with a straightaway three which was immediately answered by Gayle, tying the game at 17, and the Quakers applied pressure on defense which forced the Crimson to make multiple turnovers and shoot 0-9 over a five-minute span.
 
Saniah Caldwell checked into the game and made an instant impact for the Red and Blue, powering along the baseline through multiple Crimson defenders for a physical layup to tie the game at 19-19 midway through the second quarter.
 
After a short shooting slump, Obi hit a top-of-the-key three, bringing the deficit to one. That commenced a two-woman game to end the half, with Gayle hitting a pull-up jumper off an Obi screen.
 
Though open looks were scarce, Harvard hit two of its four shots in the last minute of the half, including a contested fading jumper at the buzzer that put the Crimson up 28-24 going into the locker room.
 
Gayle picked up where she left off with a layup to start the second-half scoring for the Quakers, but it was all Crimson for the first half of the third quarter as the host team went on a 12-2 run. Freshman Abbey Sharpe ended the Penn skid with a fast break layup, but Harvard gained a 12-point lead nearing the end of the third, its largest of the game. The Quakers didn't surrender, Obi hitting a three to bring the deficit to single digits, and the Red and Blue attacked the rim and cut the Crimson lead to just six heading into the final period, 50-44.
 
Penn trimmed two more points off the deficit early in the fourth, getting as close as four, but the Crimson outscored the Red and Blue in the period, 19-12, staving off all of the Quaker comeback attempts.
 
Up Next
The Quakers are back at the Palestra next Saturday, hosting Columbia at 2 p.m.