PHILADELPHIA – Trailing by as many as 16 points at one point, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team never got into rhythm despite a late comeback attempt, falling 61-49 to Dartmouth Saturday afternoon at The Palestra on Alumnae Day.
 
The Quakers (9-6, 0-2 Ivy) were done in by poor shooting, both overall and from beyond-the-arc, while the Big Green (8-7, 2-0 Ivy) were led by Victoria Page's 26-point explosion.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Dartmouth snaps an 18-game losing streak to Penn dating back to the 2014-15 season.
 
*Stina Almqvist led the Quakers offensively with 21 points and seven rebounds, playing a full 40 minutes.
 
*Mataya Gayle had eight points and five boards, while Ashna Tambe led the second unit with nine points—on two triples—off the bench.
 
*Penn's bench outscored Dartmouth's, 14-10.
 
*The Quakers turned the ball over just eight times and scored nine points off 14 Big Green turnovers.
 
How It Happened
Penn won the initial tipoff but neither team broke through on the scoreboard over the first two-and-a-half minutes of play. Dartmouth scored the first basket at the 7:00 minute mark to take an early lead.
 
Stina Almqvist picked up Penn's first points of the afternoon on a layup and-one, giving the Quakers a 3-2 lead with 6:43 to go in the first period.
 
The Quakers kept it close after field goals from Saniah Caldwell and Ashna Tambe, but Dartmouth had a slim 12-9 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
The Big Green opened the second stanza on a 7-2 run, prompting Mike McLaughlin to spend an early timeout as Dartmouth had a 19-13 lead.
 
Dartmouth had a seven-point, 31-24 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
Sarah Miller provided an immediate spark off the bench with a three-pointer to cut the Big Green lead to two at 31-29. However, it was short-lived, as Dartmouth's lead ballooned to nine points after Nina Minacozzi drilled a triple with 1:45 left. The Big Green made it three triples in a span of three minutes to lead 46-32 heading into the fourth.
 
Dartmouth's lead expanded to as many as 16 points more than halfway through the fourth quarter before Penn began to chip away again. Ashna Tambe provided another freshman spark by draining back-to-back three-pointers and Mataya Gayle converted on a layup and two foul shots to make it an eight-point game at 54-46 with 4:50 remaining on the clock.
 
The Big Green outscored the Quakers, 7-3 over the last five minutes to hold on for a 61-49 victory.
 
Up Next
Penn heads back onto the road to face Cornell next Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will be streamed 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.