PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team fell to Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's, 74-53, in the first home loss of the season Monday evening at The Palestra.
With the defeat, the Quakers fell to 4-2 on the year, while the Hawks improved to 5-1.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn falls to 0-2 in Big 5 pod play and will play in the fifth place game at the Women's Big 5 Classic at Villanova's Finneran Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 7. Last year, the Quakers defeated La Salle, 74-63, to take fifth place at the inaugural Big 5 Classic.
*Once again, it was
Simone Sawyer who led the way for the Quakers, scoring 14 points with a team-high seven rebounds. She also picked up a pair of steals in 37 minutes of action.
*
Tina Njike scored 10 points, eight coming in the third quarter. She was 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
* The Quakers recorded 15 assists with four each for
Saniah Caldwell and
Katie Collins.
Mataya Gayle, who led the Ivy League in helpers entering the night, finished with three.
* The Hawks shot an efficient 52.8 percent (28-for-53) from the floor. Penn shot 39.2 percent (20-for-51) overall from the field.
* Both teams combined for 31 turnovers, Penn with 17 as SJU scored 14 points off turnovers.
* Saint Joseph's outrebounded Penn, 32-27.
How It Happened
The Quakers scored first as
Mataya Gayle attacked the rim and laid it up for two.
Gayle led the struggling offense with four points in the opening quarter as the Quakers began the contest shooting 3-for-13 from the floor.
The Hawks gameplan early on was to attack the rim and draw fouls, as Aleah Snead had the hot hand with two three-pointers. SJU went on a 13-0 run to end the first quarter leading 18-6.
The Quakers attempted to cut into the deficit in the second quarter as Caldwell and Sawyer hit back-to-back three-pointers. Sawyer also hit an and-one as Penn had it within single digits at 23-15.
However, the Hawks continued to stroke it from downtown, hitting three of six in the quarter and five of 11 overall. The Quakers took advantage off sloppiness from SJU, scoring 10 points off of seven Saint Joseph's turnovers.
The Hawks hit six of their last eight field goals to end the second quarter, and took a 39-24 lead into halftime.
The Quakers entered the second half with a lot of ground to make up. Despite
Tina Njike finding a groove offensively for the Red and Blue, the Hawks continued to pile on points in the third quarter. Saint Joseph's scored 16 of its 21 points from inside the paint in the third as they stretched the lead to 25 on another 10-0 run. The Hawks led 60-35 heading into the final quarter of play.
Penn outscored Saint Joseph's 18-14 in the final quarter, but the Hawks' lead was insurmountable, coming away with the 74-53 victory.
Up Next
Penn will head to the Lone Star State this weekend to take on St. Thomas (Texas) on Friday and No.4 Texas on Sunday.
For the latest on Penn Women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
#FightOnPenn
