PHILADELPHIA – The No. 15 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team used a big first half on the way to an 18-8 win over No. 21 Harvard Sunday afternoon at Penn Park.
 
The Quakers outscored the Crimson 5-2 in each of the first two quarters to take a six-goal lead into the half. Harvard got within five goals just twice in the second half, and Penn put it away with the game's last five goals over the final 8:09.
 
Penn improved to 7-1 overall and won its second Ivy game this season and 11th in a row dating back to the 2022 season. The Crimson fell to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in Ivy play.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn outshot Harvard on the day, 37-18, and won the draw control battle, 20-9.
 
*The reigning Ivy League Midfielder of the Year, junior Anna Brandt, continued her hot streak offensively by matching her career high with five goals; coincidentally, the first time she did it was also against Harvard and also at Penn Park, in last year's Ivy League Tournament.
 
*Brandt—who scored her five goals on five shots—became the 27th player in program history to surpass 100 career points (she now has 103) and is closing in on becoming the 15th 100-goal scorer in program history (she has 97).
 
*The reigning Ivy League Attacker of the Year, senior Niki Miles, had a five-point game with three goals and two assists.
 
*Miles has scored at least three goals in six of Penn's eight games so far this season and has five or more points in four of them.
 
*Miles also had 10 draw controls on Sunday, just the fifth time in program history a player had a double-figure total in that column and the first time since Kennon Moon had 11 last season at Jacksonville.

*Junior Keeley Block also had a hat trick on Sunday, her third this season.
 
*Freshman Catherine Berkery had her second collegiate hat trick and first since going for four goals against Johns Hopkins exactly a month ago; she also had an assist for a four-point day.
 
*Junior Erika Chung dished out a team-high three assists and added a goal for a four-point day.
 
*Penn's other goal scorers were senior Julia Chai, senior Kaitlyn Cumiskey, and junior Gracie Smith.
 
*Harvard got two goals each from Riley Campbell and Maddie Barkate, while Caroline Mullahy had a goal and an assist.
 
How It Happened
Brandt got Penn started quickly, scoring just 51 seconds in off a feed from Natasha Gorriaran, but Harvard came back with a pair of goals just 1:20 apart to go up 2-1 with 11:29 left. Miles got things level by beating her defender and firing home a shot from distance, and then Berkery and Chung played tic-tac-toe to Block who quick-sticked on the doorstep to give Penn a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Brandt then intercepted an outlet pass and turned it into an unassisted goal, and 37 seconds later Chung fed Berkery in front for another quick stick goal and it was 5-2 after one.
 
Brandt beat her defender and ripped a shot into the upper right corner, and the lead went to 7-2 when a caused turnover by the defense led to Berkery slotting a pass to Block in front of the goal for another score. Harvard got two of those goals back across a 3:40 span, but Miles, Chai and Block all scored on free-position attempts before halftime to take a 10-4 lead into the break.
 
Berkery opened the second-half scoring, taking a feed from Miles and turning quickly to fire home her second of the day. Harvard got two of those back to make it 11-6, but Brandt got it back to a six-goal margin when she slalomed several Harvard defenders and fired home a shot.
 
A Miles free-position goal made the score 13-6 a minute into the fourth, but Harvard again scored twice in a two-minute span to get within 13-8. The defense turned it up the rest of the way, however, shutting out the Crimson as Smith, Brandt (FPG), Chung, Berkery and Cumiskey closed out the scoring.
 
Up Next
The Quakers' next two games will be midweek affairs, starting this Wednesday when they are at No. 2 Maryland for a 6 p.m. contest.
 
For the latest on Penn women's lacrosse, follow @PennWomensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.