PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team had cut the deficit to four points in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, but too many mistakes made the deficit insurmountable as Brown escaped with a 65-57 victory Friday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The Quakers (10-9, 1-5 Ivy) have dropped three consecutive games and five of their last six while the Bears (10-9, 4-2 Ivy) take a two-game lead over Dartmouth and a three-game lead over Penn in fourth place after winning their third straight matchup.
Brown was paced by a pair of 20-point scorers in Alyssa Moreland, who scored 25 points with 18 rebounds, and Grace Arnolie's 25-point performance.
Quaker Notemeal
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Simone Sawyer led the Quakers with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals. It's the second straight game she has led the team in scoring.
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Stina Almqvist hit double figures again with her 12 points, adding six boards, two assists, and three blocks. She's currently at 945 career points, 55 from 1,000.
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Katie Collins was one point and one rebound shy of her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with nine points and a team-high nine boards. She also had four steals, an assist, and a block.
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Mataya Gayle was in foul trouble for most of the fourth quarter, saddled with four fouls, but she managed to dish out a career-high tying nine assists.
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Abby Sharpe (six points) and
Saniah Caldwell (five) combined to score all 11 of the Quakers' bench points, outscoring Brown 11-4 in that category.
*Penn shot just 32.4 percent (22-for-68) from the field and 20 percent (7-for-35) from the three-point line in the defeat. On defense, the Quakers held the Bears to just 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from beyond-the-arc.
How It Happened
The Quakers won the opening tip and immediately found the basket after
Mataya Gayle drilled a running layup underneath to take the early lead. Brown equalized, but
Sarah Miller—making her first start in over a month—gave Penn back the lead on her first three-pointer of the evening.
Brown went on an 8-0 run of over six minutes before
Mike McLaughlin called a timeout and reset the offense, to which the Quakers responded.
Abby Sharpe converted a four-point play from the corner to trim the deficit to one point before a
Katie Collins steal at half-court got the ball to
Stina Almqvist in transition. That resulted in a three-pointer at the top of the arc to hand Penn a 12-10 advantage.
The Bears scored the second quarter's first two points, but both teams battled back-and-forth before Brown surged back in front by five points with 5:51 left to play.
That was the start of the Quakers' 8-0 run, scoring buckets on
Simone Sawyer's driving layup and a triple from the top of the key from Collins, giving Penn a 24-21 edge at the under-5 media timeout.
Saniah Caldwell's triple off Gayle's seventh assist put the Quakers back up by five points with 2:08 remaining in the half, but the Bears scored six straight to lead 28-27 after 30 minutes of game action.
Penn stepped up big time defensively to begin the second half, getting stops and cashing in on three straight field goals from Almqvist, tying the game up at 34-all with 5:56 remaining.
Buckets for Sawyer and Collins put the Quakers in front by four points at 38-34 at the under-5 media timeout.
Brown scored four straight to tie the game up at 38-all before Sawyer sunk a pair of foul shots to re-take the lead at 40-38 in which Alyssa Moreland responded right back with a layup, tying the game at 40-40.
Moreland and Arnolie had the Bears ahead 44-40 with 24 seconds to play in the third, but Gayle converted on a floating jumper as time expired to cut the deficit to two points heading into the final period.
Brown opened the fourth quarter on another 8-0 run to take a 52-42 lead, but Sawyer dwindled it back to single digits on a layup at 52-44 off the dish from Caldwell.
Penn had cut the deficit back to six points with 2:24 remaining after Collins scored off a steal and then Miller made it a four-point game with 2:15 left on a jumper.
The Bears scored the contest's final four points to come away with a 65-57 victory on Friday night.
Up Next
Penn plays the second half of an Ivy weekend doubleheader Saturday at Yale, tipoff in New Haven set for 5:30 p.m.
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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