PHILADELPHIA – Returning to the hallowed Palestra floor for the first time in nearly a month, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team gets back to work to host Delaware State on Friday morning.
 
The Quakers are riding a four-game win streak and are looking for their eighth victory of the campaign while the Hornets have dropped four straight games since Nov. 25.
 
GAME 11 – Penn (7-3, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Delaware State (3-8, 0-0 MEAC)
Faculty/Staff Day presented by PECO
Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 | 11:30 a.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Delaware State Game Notes (PDF)
 
The Series History
Friday marks just the second meeting all-time between Penn and Delaware State.
 
The Hornets won the first matchup, 74-68, back on Nov. 23, 2003 in Baltimore, Md. at RAC Arena.
 
In the loss, Jewel Clark led the Quakers with 26 points and 12 rebounds and was 10-of-16 from the free throw line.
 
Currently On a Roll
Winners of four consecutive games, Penn is currently on its longest win streak since an 11-game streak—the second-longest in program history—in 2022-23.
 
The Quakers recorded their second win streak of three games or more of the season when taking down Cal Baptist, 64-51, in the finale of the FGCU Homewood Suites Classic in Fort Myers.
 
It's the first time since 2022-23 the Quakers have two win streaks of three games or more and the 10th time in the last 11 seasons dating back to 2012-13.
 
The wins include a tremendous victory over city rival La Salle in the opening game of the inaugural Women's Big 5 Classic and against 2024 NCAA Tournament teams in Chattanooga and CBU.
 
At the start of the streak, Penn scored its most points in a single game in program history (114) and had its largest margin of victory (75) in a 114-39 victory over Immaculata on Nov. 26 at the Palestra.
 
Phenomenal Philly Phreshmen
If you didn't know Sarah Miller's name two weeks ago, you do now.
 
The freshman guard had a breakout performance against La Salle in the Big 5 Classic at Villanova two Fridays ago, leading the Quakers with 21 points—18 scored in the first half—on five three-pointers in a win.
 
Her effort brought home Ivy League Rookie of the Week—her first and the program's fourth honor of the year—and she was also named USBWA National Freshman of the Week.
 
Miller isn't the only Penn freshman to turn heads this season as Katie Collins has put together a special start as well. She's already been named Ivy Rookie of the Week three times, leading the conference.
 
Inching closer to the start of Ivy play in the New Year, Collins leads the Ancient Eight in blocked shots per game (2.1) and is fourth overall in rebounds (7.7). While Miller and Collins have seen a bulk of the workload so far as starters, Ashna Tambe is right behind them averaging 14.2 minutes per game.
 
Welcome to the 250 Club!
Head Coach Mike McLaughlin became just the fifth coach in Ivy League history to record 250 career wins with a school after the Quakers took down the Explorers in the Big 5 Classic, 74-63.
 
McLaughlin continues to stretch out his lead as 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 currently sits with a record of 250-165 at Penn.
 
In addition, McLaughlin earned the 650th win of his career last season against Harvard; that ranks him eighth among active Division I coaches.
 
Double Trouble
As the non-conference slate begins the wind down, we are seeing the two-headed tandem of Stina Almqvist and Mataya Gayle emerge, especially during this current four-game win streak.
 
Without a doubt, Almqvist has been the statistical leader of the Quakers so far this year. She's averaging 18.8 points per game, ranked second in the Ivy League and her 8.6 rebounds per game average is good enough for third. In back-to-back games against La Salle and Cal Baptist, Almqvist has recorded a double-double.
 
She's reached double figures in 17 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season, the longest such streak since Kayla Padilla reached the number 17 straight games from Jan. 2-March 16, 2023. If Almqvist is able to score 10+ points against the Hornets on Friday, she'll chase Eleah Parker's 26-game double-digit scoring streak set from Nov. 24-March 22, 2019.
 
Gayle has seen some success, too, as of late. She flirted with a triple-double against La Salle with 11 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Her 4.2 assists per game average ranks third in the Ivy League and she's had eight-or-more helpers twice including her career-high nine vs. the Explorers.
 
Last Time Out
Four players ended up scoring double figures as Penn topped La Salle, 74-63, in the opening game of the inaugural Women's Big 5 Classic at Villanova's Finneran Pavilion.
 
With the win, McLaughlin won his 250th game at Penn.
 
Led by a career-high 21 points—18 in the first half alone—on five triples for Miller, three other players—Almqvist (18), Collins (12), and Gayle (11)—joined her with double-digit points as the Quakers earned their fourth consecutive victory.
 
The victory was Penn's third consecutive over La Salle since 2022-23, winning five of the last six meetings.
 
Both Almqvist (18 pts, 11 reb) and Collins (12 pts, 11 reb) recorded double-doubles while Gayle had a strong performance in all facets, scoring 11 points with nine assists, and seven boards.
 
The Quakers shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) from the field and 87.5 percent (14-for-16) from the free-throw line. On defense, Penn held La Salle to just 33.3 percent (25-for-75) overall from the field and 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from the three-point arc.
 
Scouting The Hornets
Delaware State enters the contest on a four-game losing streak and a 3-8 overall record. The Hornets are 0-8 against Division I teams so far this year with victories over Division II schools Georgian Court, Cheyney, and Bloomfield.
 
In its last time out, DSU took LIU to overtime last Saturday but fell, 65-63, in Brooklyn. Kiarra Mcelrath led the way with 22 points, while Brooke Barnes and Circe Rubio Remolar both scored 13 points and McKenzie Stewart finished with a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
Preseason Prognostications
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 Collins and Gabriella Kelley.
 
Tambe (The Hockaday School), Kelley (SF University HS), and Suttle (Campbell) 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).
 
20-Win Seasons
Penn is the only team in the Ivy League to surpass the 20-win plateau in seven-straight years under Coach 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.
 
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 156 of its last 170 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Over the last eight seasons under McLaughlin, the Quakers are 166-18 when reaching that number. In comparison overall, 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 52-100 (.347) when allowing 60 points or more. But when holding opponents under that number, the Quakers hold a healthy winning record of 189-36 (.836).

For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.