PHILADELPHIA – Entering the next stretch of games with a 2-0 overall record for the first time since 2021-22, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team hosts two contests at The Palestra this week with Siena on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Saint Joseph's on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to open Big 5 pod play.
 
Wednesday's game is Public Safety Appreciation Night when Penn's Division of Public Safety will be honored for all that they do to keep our campus safe. On Friday, the contest kicks off a women's/men's doubleheader with the Hawks at The Palestra. The men take on SJU at 8 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's matchup.
 
GAME 3 – Penn (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Siena (0-2, 0-0 MAAC)
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024 | 6 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn Game Notes (PDF)  | Siena Game Notes (PDF)
 
GAME 4 – Penn (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Saint Joseph's (2-0, 0-0 A10)
Presented by PNC Bank
Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 | 4:30 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn Game Notes (PDF)  | Saint Joseph's Game Notes (PDF)
 
The Penn-Siena Series
Penn and Siena are meeting for the sixth time ever on Wednesday night, the Quakers leading the all-time series, 4-1. Penn took care of business in Loudonville last season, defeating the Saints 85-79 on Nov. 19, 2023.
 
Mataya Gayle set a then-career high performance with 25 points, knocking in 20 during the first half to lead Penn to victory. She finished 5-for-8 from three-point range, while Stina Almqvist also had 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
 
Penn has won three straight in the series while Siena is looking for its first win since a 73-65 victory on Dec. 29, 2001 at The Palestra.
 
The Penn-Saint Joseph's Series
It's been mostly SJU since the series began back in 1973-74 with the Hawks leading 43-5. Saint Joseph's has claimed three consecutive matchups in the series with Penn looking for its first victory since Nov. 20, 2019 on Hawk Hill.
 
In last year's meeting, Saint Joseph's picked up a 77-49 victory at The Palestra. Gayle led the Quakers with 14 points, three steals, three rebounds, and three assists while Almqvist registered her first collegiate double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, adding two blocks.
 
The Quakers scored 32 points in the paint, 20 on layups.
 
Big 5 is Back!
Big 5 action returns to The Palestra on Friday when Saint Joseph's arrives in University City.
 
This season, it's a brand-new look and format for the longtime city tradition, building up to the inaugural Women's Big 5 Classic at Villanova's Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 6.
 
For the new format, Pod 1 features Drexel, La Salle, and Temple while Pod 2 includes Penn, Saint Joseph's, and Villanova. The first seed in each pod will compete for a Big 5 championship, the second-place teams in each pod will play for third place, and the third seeds will compete for fifth place.
 
2 and Whoa!
Not a shabby start to the season slate! Penn is 2-0 against Division I opponents for the first time since 2019-20 after beating Merrimack, 64-52, last Friday at The Palestra and Maine, 56-52, Sunday on the road in Orono.
 
The Quakers are one of three unbeaten Ivy League teams remaining, joining Columbia (3-0) and Dartmouth (1-0) after the opening weekend.
 
Penn's last 3-0 start to a season was 2021-22 and against DI opponents since 2019-20, when the Quakers opened the year at 4-0. That year, Penn began the season with a 92-44 victory at home against Siena.
 
We See You, KC!
Katie Collins had an impressive start to her collegiate career over the weekend, instrumental in leading the Quakers to a 2-0 start with wins over Merrimack and Maine.
 
She averaged 8.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and had seven blocks, four steals, and five assists over the two contests en route to being named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
 
Against the Warriors on Friday, Collins flirted with a triple-double scoring nine points and adding 10 boards and six blocks, the most by a Penn player in her debut in program history.
 
Same Old Stina
Almqvist began her senior season without a hitch this past weekend, putting together impressive performance after impressive performance to lead Penn to an unbeaten start.
 
She scored 15 points with eight rebounds and three assists in Penn's 64-52 win over Merrimack Friday at The Palestra, adding a team-high 17 points on 63.6 percent (7-for-11) shooting, seven boards, five assists, and a steal in Sunday's 56-52 win at Maine.
 
Almqvist is averaging 16.0 ppg to begin the year after finishing 2023-24 with a mark of 15.3 ppg and 6.4 rpg.
 
Last Time Out
Penn survived a back-and-forth contest against defending America East champion Maine on Sunday, earning a 56-52 win in Orono.
 
The lead changed nine times with one tie. The Black Bears led by one point with 2:41 to play in the final quarter, but foul shots gave the Quakers a six-point advantage with 10 seconds left before settling for a four-point win.
 
Almqvist had a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting while sinking three of her four foul shots. She also had seven rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Gayle scored six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, while freshman Sarah Miller poured in a career-high 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Collins finished with eight points, eight boards, five assists, and three steals.
 
Scouting The Saints
Siena enters Wednesday's battle at 0-2 following season-opening defeats to Army West Point (66-56) and Washington (94-51) in Seattle.
 
In the loss against the Huskies, Ahniysha Jackson scored 21 points with two rebounds and four assists over 37 minutes, while Anajah Brown had a team-high seven boards.
 
Jackson paces the Saints with 17.5 points per game and 3.5 assists per game, while Brown and Myriam Traore are both averaging nearly eight points per game to start the year.
 
Scouting The Hawks
It's been a solid start for Saint Joseph's after back-to-back wins to begin the 2024-25 campaign. SJU topped Goldey-Beacom, 102-30, on Nov. 6 before beating Syracuse, 84-70, on Sunday at the Dome.
 
In the win over the Orange, Talya Brugler and Mackenzie Smith both erupted offensively with 29 points and 25 points, respectively. They both added six rebounds. Emma Boslet finished with a game-high 10 assists. Brugler went on to be named Big 5 Player of the Week.
 
Smith is leading the Hawks with 23.5 points per game, while Brugler added 21 and Laura Ziegler (15.0) and Meja Jagerskog (10.0) are also averaging double figures.
 
Kicking Things Off
Things are certainly looking up for the Quakers as the 2024-25 season gets underway this week. Penn was picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League's preseason poll, earning 75 voting points by a panel of 16 media members.
 
Penn returns a pair of key starters from last year in senior Almqvist (second-team All-Ivy) and sophomore Gayle (Ivy Rookie of the Year).
 
Almqvist and Lizzy Groetsch were named the Quakers' captains for the season.
 
Another Year of Madness
Penn completed another successful season in 2023-24 after qualifying for Ivy Madness for the fifth time in six seasons, narrowly falling to top-seeded and eventual champion Princeton, 59-54, in the semifinals.
 
Gayle dropped a team-high 20 points against the Tigers and was subsequently named a member of the Ivy League's All-Tournament team.
 
The Quakers went 15-13 overall and 7-7 in Ancient Eight play by season's end. In addition, Penn finished Big 5 play with a 1-3 record and a fourth-place finish.
 
Fresh Faces
Six student-athletes make up Penn Women's Basketball's Class of 2028 including four guards and two forwards.
 
Guards include Ashna Tambe, Sarah Miller, Brooke Suttle, and Reagan Jamison.
 
The Quakers have two new forwards in Katie Collins and Gabriella Kelley.
 
Both Tambe (The Hockaday School) and Kelley (SF University HS) scored over 1,000 points in their high school careers with Tambe leaving as the program's all-time leading scorer (with over 1,600 points).
 
Impressive First Season
Gayle's rookie campaign was nothing short of impressive as she looks for more of the same in 2024-25, hoping to take that next step.
 
She was one of just three Quakers—and the only freshman—to start all 28 games and finished third on the team in scoring (14.3 ppg), while grabbing 86 rebounds (3.1 rpg). Among Ivy players, she was fifth in three-pointers per game (1.8), eighth in assists (3.1), eighth in steals (1.5) and 10th in points (14.3) as a freshman.
 
Gayle also made her national mark after being named USBWA National Rookie of the Week on Jan. 3 when she dropped 28 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals in a victory over eventual America East champion Maine.
 
20-Win Seasons
Penn is the only team in the Ivy League to surpass the 20-win plateau in seven-straight years under Coach Mike McLaughlin after concluding the 2019-20 campaign. With no play in the Ivy League in 2020-21 due to the pandemic, the 2021-22 season was the first under-.500 season for the Quakers since the 2011-12 season when Penn went 13-15 (Coach McLaughlin's third season at the helm) but bounced back last year with a 17-12 tally.
 
All-Time Wins Leader
Coach McLaughlin is Penn's all-time wins leader, surpassing Lois Ashley's mark of 128 wins in 12 seasons with his 129th win at Dartmouth on March 3, 2017. The head man now sits with an record of 244-162 (.600) at Penn. In addition, McLaughlin earned the 650th win of his career last season against Harvard; that ranks him ninth among active Division I coaches.
 
Penn And The Power Six
Penn has traditionally played a challenging non-conference schedule since McLaughlin took the helm in 2009-10. In fact, the Quakers have played six non-conference top-15 teams in the last 12 seasons (#3 Notre Dame in 2011-12, #5 Notre Dame in 2013-14, #4 Tennessee 2014-15, #14 Duke in 2015-16, #3 Notre Dame in 2017-18, #1 Notre Dame in 2018-19).
 
Among non-league foes, Penn has scheduled its share of teams from the power six conferences. En route to the Ivy title in 2013-14, the Quakers earned their first-ever win over an ACC opponent with a 67-66 win at Miami (Fla). Last season, Penn took on #23 Marquette and Villanova last season.
 
Winning Streaks
Prior to McLaughlin, Penn had just one winning streak of more than seven games in its entire history (21). However, in the last six seasons, the Quakers have had nine such winning streaks, including an 11-game win streak that the Quakers were on last season until falling at Princeton (55-40) on January 16. It marked the second-longest stretch in program history only to the 21 from 2000-01.
 
Additionally, two seasons ago, the Quakers sported 12 straight wins in The Palestra from December 2022 to mid-February 2023, a program record that eclipsed the 10 set back in the 21-game stretch.
 
Magic Number: 60
The statistic that may most indicate a Penn win or loss? 60 points. Penn has won 151 of its last 163 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Since head coach Mike McLaughlin took over at Penn, the Quakers are 189-214 (.906) when they reach that number (161-16 over the last eight seasons). In comparison, the Quakers are just 50-136 (.288) when they've scored less than 60 points under McLaughlin. The trend continues defensively. Over the last 11 seasons, the Red and Blue are 50-98 (.347) when allowing 60 points or more. But when holding opponents under that number, the Quakers hold a healthy winning record of 186-36 (.836).

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