VILLANOVA, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team used a 14-0 run in the final stages of the fourth quarter to cut into Villanova's large lead, but the Wildcats prevailed for the 80-64 victory Wednesday evening at Finneran Pavilion.
 
The Quakers fall to 3-2 overall and drop their Big 5 pod play finale, punching their ticket to the fifth-place game at the inaugural Women's Big 5 Classic at Villanova on Dec. 6. The Wildcats improve to 3-1 on the young season with three consecutive wins over Ivy League opponents.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Stina Almqvist put on another scoring clinic, pouring in a game-high 24 points with nine rebounds. Now averaging 20.8 points per game, she's registered three consecutive 20-point games and has reached double figures in five straight to open the year.
 
*Almqvist also drilled 10 of her 12 free-throw attempts and went 2-for-4 from beyond-the-arc.
 
*Both Mataya Gayle and Saniah Caldwell added nine points. They both also had two assists.
 
*Caldwell (9 points), Tina Njike (8), Abby Sharpe (7), and Ashna Tambe (2) combined for 26 bench points, outscoring Villanova 26-21.
 
*Penn shot 36.7 percent (22-for-60) from the floor, but was 61.5 percent (8-for-13) in the fourth quarter. The Quakers converted 16 of their 20 free-throw attempts.
 
*Freshman Sarah Miller made her first career start at guard.
 
*Four Villanova players scored in double figures led by 16-point efforts from both Jasmine Bascoe and Denae Carter. The 'Cats shot 42.9 percent (30-for-70) from the floor and was 34.6 percent (9-for-26) from deep.

How It Happened
Villanova won the tip and immediately advanced the ball to the cup, scoring first to take a 2-0 lead. Penn missed its first six shots, while Villanova went on a 7-0 run. Stina Almqvist ended the drought with a layup at the 6:54 mark. The Quakers trailed, 12-2, at the U5 media timeout.
 
While not gaining much momentum the rest of the period, Penn managed to keep the Villanova lead at 10 points heading into the first break.
 
Nova opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run, causing Mike McLaughlin to spend another timeout with the Wildcats up 31-14. Penn was able to keep it close at around 10 points until Villanova exploded for a 13-6 push to take a 22-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
At the half, Almqvist led the Quakers with 11 first-half points, adding six rebounds. But Penn struggled shooting the ball, doing so at a 22.6 percent clip (7-for-31) and didn't convert a shot from deep, going 0-for-12 from beyond-the-arc.
 
Same story as the first half, Villanova controlled much of the pace to begin the second. Almqvist and Saniah Caldwell drilled Penn's first two three-pointers of the night, trailing 54-30 with 5:42 to go in the third period.
 
After a timeout, Penn was able to regain some of the momentum, going on a 10-6 run with just over a minute remaining, down 62-40. Two foul shots for Almqvist gave her a game-high 19 points at that point.
 
Still, Villanova led 66-43 at the end of the third stanza.
 
With the Wildcats opening the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run, McLaughlin was forced to burn an early timeout. Villanova ended up bringing in much of the second unit for the remainder of the quarter, the Quakers able to trim the deficit to 23 points at 78-57 with just over two minutes to go.
 
Before Jaliyah Green drilled a jumper with 13 seconds left in regulation, Penn had gone on a 14-0 run and ended up trimming the final deficit to 16 points, falling 80-64.
 
Up Next
It's a quick turnaround for the Quakers, hosting UC Irvine Thursday evening at The Palestra. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.