PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team opened its new season in dominant fashion, leading from start to finish in a 105-31 victory over King's College Friday afternoon at The Palestra.
Thirteen different players scored at least one basket, led by
Katie Collins' 18 in just 16 minutes of game action. Three other players—
Sarah Miller (13),
Tina Njike (12), and
Ruke Ogbevire (11)—reached double figures as the Quakers begin the season 1-0 for a seventh consecutive year.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn has won its season opener for the seventh year in a row, now 10-6 with
Mike McLaughlin as head coach.
*The Quakers are now 3-0 all-time against King's.
*The margin of victory was 74 points, one off a program-record 75 set last season vs. Immaculata.
*Collins finished with a game-high 18 points, three shy of her career best 21 set last season vs. Yale.
*Njike and
Mataya Gayle shared the team lead for assists with four. Njike also had a team-high six rebounds and two blocks.
*Penn's bench was the story of the game after outscoring King's, 63-14. Miller led the second unit with 13, while
Ruke Ogbevire had 11, and both
Georgia Heine and
Gabriella Kelley finished with nine.
*All 17 rostered players saw minutes during the contest, including the four freshmen—Ogbevire,
Sarah Gordon,
Ari Paraskevopoulou, and
Kate Lipatova.
*The Quakers led the Monarchs in points off turnovers (38-4), points in the paint (56-4), second-chance points (21-1), and fast break points (20-0).
*Penn's defense held King's to just 20 percent (10-for-50) shooting overall and 20 percent (5-for-25) from beyond-the-arc. Meanwhile, the Quakers shot 55.3 percent (42-for-76) from the field and sank 11 three-pointers.
How It Happened
The Quakers came out firing, using a 16-6 run in the opening minutes to seize control and never looked back.
Katie Collins led the charge early, scoring six of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter as Penn built a 23–7 lead after 10 minutes.
Penn's offense was on full display to begin the second quarter, out-scoring the Monarchs 30–5 thanks to a balanced attack that saw
Sarah Miller hit a pair of threes and forwards Collins (5), Kelley (4), and Njike (3) combine for 12 points. By halftime, Penn led 53–12, holding King's to just three made field goals in the entire first half.
The third quarter began on a 20–5 run with Penn shooting a blistering 70 percent (12–17) in the period. The third was highlighted by
Georgia Heine, who hit two triples off the bench and
Ese Ogbevire—back from injury—scored her first points since her freshman year. The Quakers took an 83-25 lead into the fourth.
Penn outscored King's, 22-6, in the final stanza and ended the period with seven unanswered points en route to a wire-to-wire, 105-31 victory.
Up Next
The Quakers begin a three-game road trip in three different states, starting with a matchup at Delaware State on Monday. Tip-off from Dover 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.
#FightOnPenn
