VILLANOVA, Pa. – Four players ended in double scoring figures as the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team opened the inaugural Women's Big 5 Classic with a 74-63 victory over La Salle at Finneran Pavilion Friday afternoon.

With the win, head coach Mike McLaughlin won his 250th game at Penn and continued to extend his gap as the program's all-time winningest coach.
 
Led by a career-high 21 points—18 in the first half alone—on five triples for freshman Sarah Miller, three other players—Stina Almqvist (18), Katie Collins (12), and Mataya Gayle (11)—joined her with double-digit points as the Quakers (7-3) earned their fourth consecutive victory. The Explorers fell to 5-5 with the defeat.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn won its third consecutive game against La Salle dating back to 2022-23 and has now taken five of the last six matchups. This was the first neutral-site game between the two teams since 1994.
 
*McLaughlin won his 250th game in charge of the Quakers since he took over the position in 2009-10. He now has 122 more wins than second place (Lois Ashley, 128). He also is just the fifth head coach in Ivy League history to reach the 250-win milestone and sits four wins short of fourth place (Princeton's Courtney Banghart, 254, from 2007-2019).
 
*The Quakers' current winning streak of four straight is their longest in nearly two years since reeling off 11 straight victories from Nov. 29, 2022 to Jan. 14, 2023. That winning streak is the second-longest in program history.
 
*Sarah Miller led the Quakers with a career-high 21 points on five three-pointers, both career-high marks. She had 16 points last week against Immaculata.
 
*Stina Almqvist reached double scoring figures for the 17th consecutive game dating back to last year with 18 points and 11 rebounds, her second double-double of the year and for the second straight game.
 
*Katie Collins also recorded a double-double, her second of the year, with 12 points and 11 boards following a stellar second half. She was 6-of-7 from the field and added three blocked shots.
 
*Mataya Gayle had it working in the second half with 11 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. She was 3-for-3 from the free-throw line as well.
 
*Penn shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) from the field and 87.5 percent (14-for-16) from the charity stripe, winning despite committing 21 turnovers and forcing just 11 from La Salle.
 
*The Explorers shot just 33.3 percent (25-for-75) from the field and 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from beyond-the-arc. Ashleigh Connor finished with a team-high 13 points, joined in double figures by Aryss Macktoon (12) and Anna Przysziak (10).

How It Happened
Both teams were unable to find the cup over the first few minutes after the Explorers won the opening tip. Simone Sawyer broke the deadlock with a three-pointer to give Penn an early 3-0 lead.
 
The score was all tied up at seven-all at the under-5 media timeout with the Quakers shooting 50 percent (3-for-6) from the field.
 
Sawyer gave Penn the lead back at 9-7, scoring a layup up-and-under the basket at the 3:00 mark of the first period.
 
Penn had held La Salle without a basket for nearly five minutes before the Explorers converted on a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 9-9 with 1:21 to go. That caused Mike McLaughlin to spend a 30-second timeout.
 
Stina Almqvist picked up her first points of the day with 20 seconds to play, giving the Quakers an 11-9 edge after the first stanza.
 
After La Salle scored first to open the second quarter, Almqvist recorded her second-straight bucket to allow the Quakers to re-take the lead at 13-11.
 
Tina Njike put down a free throw to take a three-point lead but the Explorers scored the next five points to take a 16-14 advantage at the media timeout with 6:28 to go. Almqvist was charged with a technical foul, La Salle upping the run to 7-0 on a layup after the break.
 
After the second quarter continued with an 11-0 run for the Explorers, Sarah Miller caught fire with a trio of three-pointers to allow Penn to re-take 23-22 lead. She drilled her fourth triple of the quarter as the Quakers made their last five of their last six baskets of the half to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Miller got right back to work to open the second half, sinking her fifth three-pointer of the day to extend the Penn lead to 37-30. That gave her a game-high 21 points while going 5-for-5 from deep in the stretch.
 
Penn had a 6-0 run going over a two-minute period to lead by 11, 43-32, at the U-5 media timeout with 5:11 to go in the third quarter. During that stretch, La Salle had missed seven consecutive baskets, a scoring drought of nearly four minutes.
 
The Quakers continued to have a hot hand shooting the basket as the third quarter progressed, draining four straight shots to take a 53-38 lead with under two minutes to play in the period. La Salle made two free-throw shots to cut the deficit to 11 points at the end of the third.
 
The Explorers built a 6-2 run to begin the fourth quarter, McLaughlin spending an early 30-second timeout as La Salle trimmed the Penn lead to seven points with 7:53 remaining in regulation.
 
Time began to evaporate in the fourth quarter with the Quakers extending their lead, leadig 68-52 with 3:05 to play in the game, making it a 12-2 run over nearly four minutes and holding La Salle without a point for nearly the same amount of time.
 
The Explorers were able to trim the deficit to as few as 11 points on two occasions but Penn held on for the 74-63 victory.

Quotables
"I was just happy we found a way to win. At times, it was a struggle for both groups, but we found a way to grit, grind, and make plays when we needed to. Defensively, we were pretty solid and rebounded the ball, which kept us in there. Obviously, Sarah Miller carried us during that opening stretch and it changed the flow of the game. To her credit, she shot the ball with confidence, she got the right shots on the floor and her teammates found her. The basket got big for her for a little while. I'm proud to be here [at the Big 5 Classic], happy to be here, and glad we were able to get a victory today," Mike McLaughlin, head coach.

"It felt great to be out there today, I'm just happy that my coaches and teammates have the confidence in me to keep executing. Having everyone's trust really helps with that. It's definitely been a transition from high school to college, but the coaching staff has been so great and helpful," Sarah Miller, freshman guard.

Up Next
Penn gets two weeks off for final examinations before hosting Delaware State at The Palestra on Dec. 20 at 11:30 a.m.
 
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.