MESA, Ariz. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team faced tough competition on Tuesday afternoon in an 86-75 victory over Benedictine Mesa.
 
The Quakers close out both the non-conference portion of the schedule and the 2024 calendar year with an overall record of 9-4.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Stina Almqvist notched a career-high 28 points on 68.8 percent (11-for-16) shooting. She added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. She's registered 20-or-more points in back-to-back games and increases her double-digit point streak to 20 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season.
 
*In addition to Almqvist, three other players reached double figures in Mataya Gayle (18 points), Sarah Miller (15), and Saniah Caldwell (12). Caldwell's scoring output matched a career high.
 
*Katie Collins finished with a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
*Caldwell and Gayle each finished with five assists.
 
*Almqvist also added a team-high three blocks.
 
*Penn shot 49.2 percent (31-for-63) from the field, holding Benedictine Mesa to 46.2 percent (30-for-65) shooting.
 
How It Happened
The opening tip went out of bounds as the Redhawks received the first possession of the game.
 
Penn opened the contest on a 9-5 run with four early points for Stina Almqvist.
 
Almqvist found Gayle on a nice feed to extend the Quakers' lead to 12-7 at the U5 media timeout with 4:18 to play in the period.
 
BENU scored five straight points out of the timeout to tie the game up at 12-12. The run increased to 8-0 as the Redhawks took their first lead of the day, up 15-14 with 2:55 on the clock.
 
Penn ended the first quarter on a 12-0 run, thanks to buckets from Almqvist and Mataya Gayle. The Quakers took a 24-15 lead into the second period.
 
Benedictine opened the second on a 5-0 push, making it a 25-20 game over the first two minutes. The momentum completely shifted back to Penn after Saniah Caldwell drilled a jumper and Almqvist followed that up with a triple from the corner, leading 32-22 at the first called timeout of the quarter, becoming the media.
 
BENU had the Penn lead trimmed to just eight points with 1:34 to play, but a free throw from Tina Njike and a layup for Gayle as time expired gave the Quakers a 46-39 advantage at the half.
 
Miller scored Penn's first points out of the break, upping the lead to nine at 48-39. The Quakers' lead became 13 after Gayle found Caldwell underneath for the basket.
 
Penn ended the frame on a 19-7 run as Almqvist took over offensively and had the Quakers ahead, 67-47, going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Redhawks had a stellar fourth quarter, outscoring Penn 28-19 in the stanza to settle for an 86-75 final.
 
Up Next
Penn opens Ivy League play Saturday at The Palestra against Columbia. Tip off is set for 2 p.m., streamed live on ESPN+.
 
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.