PHILADELPHIA – It's a storied rivalry and it hits the century mark with the 100th meeting set for Saturday as the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team travels north to face Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium.
 
The Quakers are coming off a victory over Yale last weekend that snapped a three-game skid, while the Tigers are cruising following three consecutive wins.
 
GAME 21 – Penn (11-9, 2-5 Ivy) at Princeton (15-5, 6-1 Ivy)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 | 2 p.m.
Jadwin Gymnasium | Princeton, N.J.
Watch on ESPN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia ($) | Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Princeton Game Notes (PDF)
 
The Princeton Series
There may not be a more meaningful rivalry matchup than Penn vs. Princeton, which renews for the 100th time on Saturday afternoon.
 
Separated by just 48 miles and two interstates—I-95 and I-295—the southernmost Ivy League institutions square off with the Tigers leading the all-time series, 69-30.
 
The Quakers have struggled in recent years, currently on a losing streak of 12 consecutive games and 15 of the last 16. Penn is looking for its first win against Princeton since Jan. 5, 2019 at Jadwin Gymnasium.
 
So Close Against the Tigers
Well, it was certainly a close one!
 
Penn gave top-seeded and eventual champion Princeton all it could handle in an Ivy League Tournament semifinal at Columbia but fell to the Tigers, 59-54.
 
The Quakers were down three and with the ball in the final seconds, but Jordan Obi was called for a charge when it looked like she might have an and-1 and a chance to tie the game.
 
Mataya Gayle led all players in points (20) and assists (5) and was named to the all-tournament team. Obi had 15 points, while Stina Almqvist stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
Simone Sawyer had seven steals, most by a Penn player since 2020.
 
Miss Five-Time Strikes Again
There's just something about Penn Women's Basketball and the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award. In 2023-24, Mataya Gayle earned the honor seven times throughout the season and was eventually presented with the Rookie of the Year award.
 
This year, that player has been Katie Collins. On Monday, the forward was named Rookie of the Week for a conference-leading fifth time this year.
 
She had two tremendous performances in the Quakers' first true Ivy weekend of the season, averaging 13.0 points per game and 6.0 rebounds, adding 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and a block. Collins shot 71.4 percent (5-for-7) from beyond-the-arc over the two-game set.
 
Against Brown on Friday, Collins finished just one point and one rebound shy of her fifth double-double with nine and nine, adding four steals, and a block. In a win against Yale Saturday, she was 4-of-4 from three for 17 points.
 
The Last Time(s) Out
Penn split an Ivy weekend on the road, falling 65-57 at Brown Friday night but taking down Yale on Saturday, 80-60.
 
In a dominant victory over the Bulldogs, the Quakers shot 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from three-point range, the team's best in the Mike McLaughlin coaching era.
 
Four players—Almqvist (18 points), Sawyer (17), Gayle (17) and Collins (17)—scored in double figures as Penn snapped a three-game losing streak. Collins had a career-high four three-pointers and was perfect beyond the arc. Defensively, senior co-captain Lizzy Groetsch made her first start since November and tallied a career-high five steals.
 
On Friday night, the Quakers were within four points of the Bears in the closing stages but the deficit proved to be too much.
 
Sawyer led the way with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Collins finished just shy of her fifth double-double with nine points, nine rebounds, adding four steals, while Gayle tied her career high with nine assists.
 
Two Games Out
There's really only one over-arching gameplan Penn needs to follow over these final seven games in the 2024-25 regular season: Win.
 
The Quakers are two games out of fourth place, currently occupied by Brown, and after Saturday, a game remaining against each of the Ancient Eight opponents.
 
At the moment, there are five Ivy teams that hold tiebreakers over Penn including Columbia (2-0 against the Quakers), Dartmouth, Harvard, and the Bears.
 
Penn and Dartmouth share fifth place at 2-5 with Cornell and Yale knotted up for seventh at 1-6.
 
Stina's Closing In On 1,000 Points
Stina Almqvist has been sensational for the Quakers so far this season, currently ranked third in the Ivy League in scoring at 17.4 points per game.
 
In addition, Almqvist also ranks first in minutes per game (36.3), second in rebounding (7.6 per game), fourth in blocks (0.9), fifth in free-throw percentage (.774), and eighth in assists (2.7).
 
She'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.
 
With just seven games remaining on the regular-season schedule, Almqvist is just 37 points away from becoming the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone.
 
Phabulous Philly Phreshmen
The Quakers wouldn't be as successful as they have been this year without the production of freshmen Collins and Sarah Miller.
 
Collins ranks second in the Ivy in rebounding, averaging 7.6 boards per game and is also tops in blocks with 36, averaging 1.8 per game.
 
Miller has emerged as the team's go-to sharpshooter thus far, leading the Quakers with 29 three-pointers. She's averaging 1.5 triples per game, good for a tie for seventh in the Ivy League.
 
Both Collins and Miller have combined for six 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, 44th in NCAA in assist/turnover ratio
(1.14) and are also highly ranked in blocks per game (4.3; 1st, 44th), fewest turnovers per game (13.1; 2nd, 30th), and fewest fouls per game (14.1; 2nd, 31st).
 
Individually, Almqvist is putting together quite the senior season, ranked 17th in the nation in minutes per game at 36.3, 69th in points per game (17.4) and 89th in total free throws (82). With 36 blocks and averaging 1.8 per game this year, Collins is tops in the Ancient Eight in both categories, ranked 55th nationally in blocks, 45th in average.
 
Scouting The Tigers
Princeton has been the most dominant team in the Ivy League over the last five seasons and it really hasn't been close. The Tigers, who have won at least a share of the league's title in five consecutive seasons, are off to another quality start in 2024-25.
 
The team is 6-1 with just one game remaining through the first turn of conference play and are just one game behind Columbia for first place.
 
Princeton has won three straight games after a 58-50 loss to the Lions back on Jan. 20.
 
Skye Belker is ranked ninth in the conference in scoring at 12.3 points per game, leading her teammates, while Fadima Tall's 6.5 rebounds per game average is good for fourth. Ashley Chea is averaging 3.7 assists per game to lead the team, ranked fifth in the Ancient Eight and Belker's assist/turnover ratio (1.8) is tied for second.
 
The Tigers have two players ranked in the top five for blocks with Parker Hill second (1.1) and Tabitha Amanze fourth (0.9).
 
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 254-171 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 173 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Over the last eight seasons under McLaughlin, the Quakers are 169-18 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 53-104 (.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.