PHILADELPHIA – One turn into the Ivy League schedule and hitting the homestretch, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team returns to The Palestra for a three-game homestand. Penn hosts Yale Friday at 6 p.m. followed by Brown on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
The Quakers enter the weekend jostling for positioning with two opponents, sitting two games behind the Bears for fourth place and a game ahead of the Bulldogs.
 
GAME 22 – Penn (11-10, 2-6 Ivy) vs. Yale (2-19, 1-7 Ivy)
Play4Kay presented by Penn Medicine
Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 | 6 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
Game Program | Penn Game Notes (PDF)
 
GAME 23 – Penn (11-10, 2-6 Ivy) vs. Brown (10-11, 4-4 Ivy)
$2.15 Game/NGSWD presented by The Penn Bookstore
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 | 4 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
Game Program | Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Brown Game Notes (PDF)
 
The Yale Series
Penn and Yale's series record has been fairly even heading into the 94th meeting on Friday evening.
 
The Quakers lead the all-time series, 50-43, and have won seven of the last 10 matchups.
 
Penn took down Yale, 80-60, when these two teams squared off last in New Haven. The two teams split the season series in 2023-24 with the Bulldogs coming out victorious at The Palestra, 74-68, in overtime before falling at the JLA, 66-52.
 
A win Friday night would have Penn to sweep the season series, while head coach Mike McLaughlin would improve to 18-12 all-time against the Elis.
 
The Brown Series
It'll be the 95th meeting featuring Penn and Brown when the two teams square off Saturday afternoon at The Palestra. The Quakers hold a 56-38 edge in the all-time series.
 
The Bears have claimed the last two games including three of the last four against the Quakers.
 
Penn will be going for its 13th straight win vs. Brown at The Palestra dating back to March 8, 2013.
 
Penn has dropped its last two matchups at the Pizzitola Sports Center, including a 68-59 loss on Feb. 18, 2023 which snapped a 21-game win streak dating back to March 2, 2012.
 
Four Weeks Remaining
We're one turn into the Ivy League schedule with just six games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season. Penn is currently on the outside looking in at the Ivy League Tournament field, currently two games behind fourth-place Brown and tied with Dartmouth and Cornell for fifth at 2-6.
 
Still, the Quakers play Yale and Cornell in two of their next three games, both teams they defeated in their previous meetings. Penn has won 12 consecutive games against Brown at The Palestra and  Dartmouth is on a six-game losing streak heading into this upcoming weekend.
 
Hello, Miss Six-Time!
Freshman Katie Collins had herself another highlight performance Saturday at Princeton, rewarded with her sixth Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor.
 
The award gives Penn 14 over the last two seasons after Mataya Gayle earned the honor seven times in 2023-24 and Sarah Miller brought home the award earlier this year. Gayle went on to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
 
Collins tied a career high with 18 points, converting a career-high tying four three-pointers on nine attempts. She's knocked down eight triples over her last two games. Collins also added a team-best three steals.
 
Stina's Quest for 1,000 Points
Stina Almqvist is closing in on a significant milestone with the Red and Blue, now just 29 points from reaching 1,000 career points in her college career.
 
She scored just eight points—on six free throws—in a loss at Princeton Saturday, but is averaging 17.0 points per game this season, ranked third among Ivy League players.
 
Almqvist's registered three double-doubles this year and had recorded double digit points in 20 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season before being held to just nine against Columbia in the Ivy opener. It was the longest streak since Eleah Parker had 26 straight in 2019.
 
If she reaches the 1,000-point threshold this weekend, Almqvist will become the 26th player in program history to achieve the feat.
 
The Last Time Out
Penn was done in by a dominant Princeton first quarter before falling 74-60 on Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gym in the 100th meeting between the two programs.
 
Collins tied a career high with 18 points, adding a career-high-tying four three-pointers. On defense, she added three steals.
 
Gayle scored 13 points and led the Quakers with seven rebounds and five assists. Simone Sawyer also reached double figures in the scoring column, with 10 points on six free throws. Brooke Suttle led the bench with a career-high nine points.
 
Two Games Out
There's really only one over-arching gameplan Penn needs to follow over these final six games in the 2024-25 regular season: Win.
 
The Quakers are two games out of fourth place, currently occupied by Brown, with a game remaining six of the seven Ivy League opponents.
 
At the moment, there are six Ivy teams that hold tiebreakers over Penn including Columbia (2-0 against the Quakers), Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, and Princeton.
 
Penn shares fifth place with both Cornell and Dartmouth at 2-6, while Yale has last at 1-7.
 
Phabulous Philly Phreshmen
The Quakers wouldn't be as successful as they have been this year without the production of freshmen Collins and Miller.
 
Collins ranks second in the Ivy in rebounding, averaging 7.3 boards per game and is also tops in blocks with 36, averaging 1.7 per game.
 
Miller has emerged as the team's go-to sharpshooter thus far, leading the Quakers with 29 three-pointers. She's averaging 1.4 triples per game, good for a tie for eighth in the Ivy League.
 
Both Collins and Miller have combined for seven Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors so far this season while Miller was named USBWA National Freshman of the Week back on Dec. 10 for her standout effort against La Salle in the Women's Big 5 Classic.
 
Statistical Leaders
Penn is ranked highly—both as a team and individually—among both Ivy and NCAA DI statistical categories.
 
As a team, the Quakers rank second in the Ivy, 51st in NCAA in assist/turnover ratio
(1.11) and are also highly ranked in blocks per game (4.3; 1st, 44th), fewest turnovers per game (13.1; 2nd, 28th), and fewest fouls per game (14.4; 3rd, 40th).
 
Individually, Almqvist is putting together quite the senior season, ranked 36th in the nation in minutes per game at 36.3, 88th in points per game (17.0) and 82nd in total free throws (88). With 36 blocks and averaging 1.7 per game this year, Collins is tops in the Ancient Eight in both categories, ranked 69th nationally in blocks, 53 in average.

Scouting The Bulldogs
2024-25 hasn't been kind to Yale, currently 2-19 overall with a 1-7 record in Ivy play and occupying eighth place in the standings.

After earning their second win of the season on Jan. 20 at Dartmouth, the Bulldogs have lost four straight games during this most recent run and are coming off a 57-40 defeat vs. Cornell last Saturday afternoon.

In the loss, no player scored double digits and were led by Mackenzie Egger's nine points and seven rebounds. Yale shot just 25.9 percent (15-for-58) from the floor and were 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from deep.

Egger has had a dominant senior season, leading the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.9 points per game, adding a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game over 34.0 minutes.

Scouting The Bears
Brown heads into this upcoming weekend in a good position, but a chance to do more to lengthen its lead over Penn in the hunt for an Ivy Madness berth with just five games to play after Friday night. Currently fourth at 4-4, the Bears open the weekend with a tough matchup at Princeton before taking on the Quakers.

Since a 65-57 victory against Penn at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Jan. 31, Brown has dropped two straight to Ivy powerhouse opponents Princeton (60-47) and Columbia (78-40).

Last time out against the Lions, Isabella Mauricio led the Bears with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting, adding two assists and a steal. Both Beth Nelson and Aima Ofunrein added six points, but Brown fell by 38 points.

Grace Arnolie has been terrific for Bruno, averaging 15.0 points per game to lead her teammates, chipping in 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals on the defensive end. Gia Powell is second on the team at 8.7 ppg, while Alyssa Moreland is the program's leading rebounder at 7.8 per game. Moreland had her best performance of the year against the Quakers in Providence, scoring a game-high 25 points with 18 rebounds and three steals in the victory.
 
Welcome to the 250 Club!
Head Coach Mike McLaughlin became just the fifth coach in Ivy League history to record 250 career wins with a school after the Quakers took down the Explorers in the Big 5 Classic, 74-63.
 
McLaughlin continues to stretch out his lead as Penn's all-time wins leader, surpassing Lois Ashley's mark of 128 wins in 12 seasons with his 129th win at Dartmouth on March 3, 2017. The head man currently sits with a record of 254-172 at Penn.
 
In addition, McLaughlin earned the 650th win of his career last season against Harvard; that ranks him eighth among active Division I coaches.
 
Magic Number: 60
The statistic that may most indicate a Penn win or loss? 60 points. Penn has won 159 of its last 174 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Over the last eight seasons under McLaughlin, the Quakers are 169-19 when reaching that number. In comparison overall, the Quakers are just 50-140 (.288) when they've scored less than 60 points under McLaughlin. The trend continues defensively. Over the last 11 seasons, the Red and Blue are 53-105 (.347) when allowing 60 points or more. But when holding opponents under that number, the Quakers hold a healthy winning record of 190-36 (.836).
 
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.