HACKENSACK, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team defeated Binghamton in the championship game of the FDU Christmas Classic on Tuesday afternoon, 59-54. The Quakers were down at the half, 28-26, but used a dominant third quarter (outscoring the Bearcats 19-5) and then held off a game Binghamton squad in the fourth to emerge with the title.
 
The Quakers have now won five straight games and finish non-conference play at 10-3, the program's best non-Ivy slate since the 2019-20 team also went 10-3. Binghamton fell to 8-5.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn shot 44 percent from the field (25-56) and scored 34 points in the paint to Binghamton's 20.
 
*Sophomore Katie Collins was named Tournament MVP after another strong showing as she finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots against the Bearcats.

*For the tournament, Collins recorded 39 points, 18 rebounds and nine blocked shots while shooting 14-of-22 from the field including 3-of-4 from distance.

*Junior Mataya Gayle also was named to the all-tournament team as she finished the championship game with nine points, a game-high five assists, three rebounds, and a steal.

*Junior Tina Njike scored seven points and grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds.

*Senior Simone Sawyer and sophomore Gabriella Kelley scored six points each (Kelley going a perfect 3-of-3 from the field), while Ashna Tambe finished with four.

*Senior Saniah Caldwell finished the game with three points, three rebounds, and four assists.
 
*Threes were also wild for sophomore Brooke Suttle as she hit that number in points, assists and steals on Tuesday.
 
How It Happened
After an 18-point outing in yesterday's game against UMES, Collins picked up where she left off as she scored the first two baskets for the Quakers. Njike then stepped behind the three-point line and nailed a shot from the corner as Penn took a five-point lead before the first media timeout. The Bearcats made up the deficit late in the period, however, and Penn's lead was 15-13 at the end of the first ten minutes.
 
The tables turned in the second quarter as Binghamton became the aggressors on offense, hitting its first three shots and taking a 20-15 lead. Penn wouldn't go away easily, though, as the Quakers went back to Collins who responded with a personal nine-point run that put the Red and Blue back in front, 24-23. The Bearcats scored five of the next seven points, sandwiching a Bella Pucci triple and a Kendall Bennett hoop in the paint around a Tambe bucket for Penn. Amazingly, Bennett's basket with 3:57 left in the half would be the last points for either team in the period, and Binghamton took a 28-26 lead into the locker room.
 
The lead was still 31-30 after Bennett scored a second-chance basket in the paint, but Penn took over from there. Collins and Kelley got the run started, and then Gayle took over with a personal seven-point run spanning just 1:01 of game time. That pushed the Quakers in front by a double-digit margin, at 41-31, and then Suttle and Njike added to the advantage after the media timeout. In all, it was a 15-0 run by the Red and Blue as they held the Bearcats scoreless for 5:44 of game time. The lead was still 12 after three, at 45-33.
 
Penn continued to flourish offensively to begin the fourth, hitting three of its first four shots to keep its lead at 51-37 two minutes in. The Quakers went quiet after that, however, and Binghamton made things a little nervy. While Penn was going more than four minutes without a point, the Bearcats were reeling off eight in a row and when Bennett hit a pair of free throws the score was 51-45 with 3:52 to play.

Penn finally ended its skid when Suttle got fouled and hit one of two shots, but Yanniah Boyd promptly hit a three-pointer and the Bearcats were within four (52-48) as the clock went under three minutes. The Quakers were able to open up some breathing room on their next possession, however, as Kelley scored off a Caldwell feed with 2:40 left to get the margin back to six. 

As it happened, that was Penn's last field goal of the day and it made for some more anxious moments. Binghamton clawed within a possession when Bennett hit a pair of free throws with 1:25 remaining to make it 54-51. Penn's next possession proved critical, as Caldwell missed a three-point look but the rebound was corralled by Sawyer. The Bearcats were forced to foul and Caldwell made one of two for a 55-51 lead inside a minute. Binghamton went quickly on offense but missed its shot and Collins rebounded, getting fouled as soon as she had possession. She made both, for a 57-51 lead. 

The Bearcats again made it a one-possession game when Pucci drilled a triple with 35 seconds left, but Caldwell was fouled after the Quakers got the ball over the timeline and she made both of her shots. That ended up setting the final score, as Binghamton was unable to convert on its two final possessions.

Up Next
The Quakers will begin Ivy League play on Saturday, hosting Princeton at The Palestra. Tipoff is slated for 2 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.