PHILADELPHIA – Facing off against Columbia for the second time in five games, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team heads to New York City in the first of four straight road games Saturday at Levien Gymnasium.
 
The Quakers have dropped three of their first four Ivy League games to begin the 2025 calendar year, while the Lions are the only remaining unblemished squad after a home victory over Princeton Monday evening.
 
GAME 18 – Penn (10-7, 1-3 Ivy) at Columbia (13-4, 4-0 Ivy)
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 | 2 p.m.
Levien Gymnasium | New York City
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Columbia Game Notes (PDF)
 
The Columbia Series
Saturday will be the 77th all-time meeting between Penn and Columbia, with the Quakers leading the series 52-24.
 
Columbia has won six of the last 10 meetings including four straight and six of the last seven.
 
The Lions are currently on their longest win streak (four) in the all-time series. The Quakers have not won at Levien Gymnasium since 2019-20, their last of 18 consecutive wins against Columbia dating back to the 2011-12 season.
 
Rematch Ready
Looking for a better result Saturday in the return trip to NYC, Penn dropped its Ivy League opener for the second straight season, slipping 74-59 to Columbia at The Palestra on January 4.
 
The Quakers battled back down 15 points in the first quarter to take a one-point edge at 29-28 into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Lions put together a solid second half to pull away for a 15-point victory and start the second season off with a 1-0 record.
 
Simone Sawyer led Penn's scoring effort with 14 points on four three-pointers, while Mataya Gayle added 11 points and Katie Collins finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks. Saniah Caldwell had a productive 35 minutes off the bench, scoring eight points with a team-high tying four assists.
 
Defensively, the Quakers held the Lions to just 34.6 percent (9-for-26) from beyond-the-arc and 69.2 percent (9-for-13) from the free-throw line.
 
The Last Time Out
In tough loss to Harvard at The Palestra on Monday, Penn had the game tied up at 13-13 to end the first quarter before being worn out by the Crimson's defense and dominant second half in a 73-44 defeat.
 
The Quakers were outscored 42-21 in the second half after trailing by just eight points at halftime.
 
Stina Almqvist led her Penn teammates in all major categories including points (14), rebounds (6) and assists (4). With another double-digit scoring performance, she currently sits at 924 career points, 76 away from 1,000.
 
Collins also managed double figures with 11 points, six boards, and two blocks.
 
Despite the defeat, the Quakers held the Crimson to just 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from beyond-the-arc.
 
Stina's Starring Role
Almqvist has been sensational for the Quakers so far this season, currently ranked second in the Ivy League in scoring at 18.2 points per game.
 
She's registered three double-doubles this year and had recorded double digit points in 20 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season before being held to just nine against Columbia in the Ivy opener. It was the longest streak since Eleah Parker had 26 straight in 2019.
 
With 10 games remaining on the regular season schedule, Almqvist is now on the hunt for 1,000 career points. She's sitting at 924, just 76 away from becoming the 26th player in program history to achieve the milestone.
 
Phabulous Philly Phreshmen
The Quakers wouldn't be as successful as they have been this year without the production of freshmen Collins and Sarah Miller.
 
Collins ranks second in the Ivy in rebounding, averaging 8.1 boards per game and is also tops in blocks with 34, averaging 2.0 per game.
 
Miller has emerged as the team's go-to sharpshooter thus far, leading the Quakers with 26 three-pointers. She's averaging 1.5 triples per game, good for a tie for seventh in the Ancient Eight.
 
Both Collins and Miller have combined for five Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors so far this season while Miller was named USBWA National Freshman of the Week back on Dec. 10 for her standout effort against La Salle in the Women's Big 5 Classic.
 
Ashna Tambe was the latest first year to break out, leading the bench with nine points vs. Dartmouth and landed a spot on the Ivy League's weekly honor roll.
 
Statistical Leaders
Penn is ranked highly—both as a team and individually—among both Ivy and NCAA DI statistical categories as we enter Ivy League play.
 
As a team, the Quakers rank second in the Ivy, 37th in NCAA in assist/turnover ratio
(1.16) and are also highly ranked in blocks per game (4.3; 1st, 42nd), fewest turnovers per game (13.0; 2nd, 28th), and fewest fouls per game (14.0; 2nd, 28th).
 
Individually, Almqvist is putting together quite the senior season, ranked 23rd in the nation in minutes per game at 35.9, 47th in points per game (18.2) and 60th in total free throws (74). With 34 blocks and averaging 2.0 per game this year, Collins is tops in the Ancient Eight in both categories, ranked 34th nationally in blocks, 28th in average.
 
Scouting The Lions
Columbia is 4-0 to begin its second season, the only unbeaten team remaining in the Ancient Eight.
 
The Lions topped the three-time defending Ivy League Tournament champions, 58-50, on Monday night to take sole possession of first place in the standings.
 
Columbia forced 24 Princeton turnovers, outscoring them 16-2 off them during the second-half romp. Cecelia Collins scored a game-high 18 points with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Susie Rafiu scored 13 points—nine in the second half—grabbing three boards and a career-high four steals. Kitty Henderson stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, adding three steals.
 
As a team, the Lions currently pace the Ivy League in scoring offense (73.3 ppg) and rebounding margin (+6.1). They are also second in field-goal percentage (.436).
 
Individually, Riley Weiss is ranked third in the Ancient Eight in scoring average (16.7 ppg), Perri Page is fourth in rebounding (6.8 rpg), Kitty Henderson is first in assists per game (5.2) and second in steals per game (2.2).
 
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 253-169 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.
 
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 158 of its last 172 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Over the last eight seasons under McLaughlin, the Quakers are 168-18 when reaching that number. In comparison overall, the Quakers are just 50-139 (.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 52-103 (.347) when allowing 60 points or more. But when holding opponents under that number, the Quakers hold a healthy winning record of 190-36 (.836).
 
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