AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team gave No. 4 Texas a good battle on Sunday at the Moody Center but ultimately fell to the undefeated Longhorns, 81-63. The Quakers led after one quarter and were only outscored by four in the second half, 40-36, but UT was dominant in the second quarter and that proved to be the difference.
 
The Quakers fell to 5-3 on the season while Texas improved to 8-0 and won its 30th straight game at home.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior Mataya Gayle scored a season-high 24 points for Penn, four points shy of her career high.
 
*Sophomore Katie Collins (12) and senior Simone Sawyer (10) also scored in double figures for the Quakers.
 
*The Quakers shot a scintillating 21-of-22 from the foul line (95.5 percent).
 
*There were six lead changes in the game.
 
*Madison Booker led Texas with a double-double, 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
How It Happened
The Longhorns began the game with an aggressive pursuit to crash the offensive rebounds, recording three in the first two minutes and totaling 10 in the first quarter. However, it took Texas a while to find an offensive groove as the Horns struggled from the field early on. However, the Quakers also struggled offensively as turnovers became an issue (they recorded seven in the opening quarter).
 
The first couple minutes of the game saw the teams trade baskets and change leads multiple times, but the Quakers found their flow first. A Gayle backdoor layup and-one gave the Quakers an early 12-6 lead. Texas was frustrated early, and Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer was called for a technical foul at the end of the first quarter. Katie Collins went to the line and knocked down both free throws, giving the Quakers a 15-11 lead as Gayle, Collins and Tina Njike scored five points each.
 
Texas began pounding the ball inside in the second quarter, using their size to their advantage. Justice Carlton scored three straight basketball in the paint, in the first few minutes of the second quarter for the Longhorns. Kyla Oldacre scored her first eight points of the day in the second quarter as Texas bullied Penn inside, going on a 12-0 run which forced the Quakers to take their first timeout of the game. However, after the timeout Njike picked up her third foul on a charge and sat for the rest of the period, adding to Penn's frontcourt woes.
 
Overall, the Longhorns scored 22 of their 30 second-quarter points inside the paint as Penn's offense had trouble finding a rhythm, making only four field goals and totaling 12 points in the second period.
 
Gayle was the only Quaker in double digits in the first half, with 10, as Penn trailed 41-27 at halftime.
 
Collins opened the second half with a corner three-pointer as Penn whittled away at the Texas lead, and Simone Sawyer cut the margin to a single-digit figure with a backdoor layup off an assist from Saniah Caldwell that made the score 43-34. The Quakers shot much more efficiently in the third quarter, thriving in transition and matching their hosts point-for-point throughout the period. In all, it was an 18-18 tie after the 10 minutes which left Texas in front, 59-45.
 
Texas opened the final quarter with the first four points, but Caldwell and then Gayle hit three-pointers that kept the margin at 14 with just less than seven minutes remaining. However, at that point the Horns went on an 8-0 run spanning 1:25 of game time to open the margin beyond 20 and force a Penn timeout. That margin held most of the rest of the way, Penn getting as close as 16 in the final two minutes when a Gayle layup made the score 79-63.

Overall, Penn went toe-to-toe with Texas in the second half, getting outscored just 40-36 over the 20 minutes.
 
Up Next
Penn will travel back home to Philadelphia and host Maine on Thursday at The Palestra. Tipoff is slated for 6 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.