PRINCETON, N.J. – Princeton dominated the first quarter against the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gym, and that was plenty enough as the Quakers could not make up the difference in falling to the Tigers, 74-60, in the 100th meeting between the two programs.
Penn scored just two field goals in the opening 10 minutes and were down by 22 after one, 28-6. The Quakers used a strong second quarter to make things a bit more manageable at the half, but another Tigers run midway through the third quarter proved to be too much for the Red and Blue to overcome.
Penn falls to 2-6 in Ivy League play and 11-10 overall and looks forward to playing its next three conference games at home. Princeton remains second in Ivy play at 7-1 and improved to 16-5 overall.
Quaker Notemeal
*It's the 13th consecutive win for Princeton in the all-time series, the Tigers improving to 70-30 against Penn.
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Katie Collins tied a career high with 18 points, tallying a career-high tying four three-pointers on nine attempts. She's recorded eight triples over her last two games. Collins was a stalwart on the defensive end with a team-best three steals.
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Mataya Gayle reached double figures again with 13 points, also registering a team-high seven rebounds with a team-high five assists as well.
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Simone Sawyer went 6-for-7 from the foul line with 10 points over 36 minutes.
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Stina Almqvist only had eight points over 23 minutes—her least amount of time on the floor since Nov. 26 vs. Immaculata (19)—with two boards and a block. But her quest to 1,000-career points gets closer, now just 29 away from the milestone.
*Princeton shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field and out-rebounded Penn, 42-27. The Tigers also led the way in points in the paint, 38-16. Ashley Chea scored a game-high 25 points on five three-pointers and 10 field goals.
How It Happened
Princeton jumped out quickly, scoring the game's first six points and forcing Penn head coach
Mike McLaughlin to call a timeout just 2:11 into the contest. Gayle finally got the Quakers on the board, knocking down a three-pointer a little more than three minutes in, but the Tigers responded with the game's next 11 points for a 19-3 lead. The score was 28-6 after one, as both teams took 16 shots with Princeton making 11 (68.8 percent) and the Quakers just two (12.5).
Collins opened the second-quarter scoring, but the seemingly shocked Red and Blue went more than four minutes without a field goal after that and the Tigers took advantage with a 9-2 run. By the time Collins ended the skid with a three-pointer, the score was 37-13 in favor of the hosts. However, that shot was the start of a 15-2 run by the Quakers that took 2:18 of game time and drew a Princeton timeout with 3:49 to play.
The half ended with Princeton still well in front. However, things were a bit more manageable for Penn, the margin at 15 (44-29) after the Quakers outscored the Tigers in the second quarter, 23-16.
Penn got as close as 14 early in the third quarter, a Gayle trey making the score 46-32, and the teams essentially traded points for a few minutes after that. However, Princeton threw the death blow midway through the third, using an 8-0 run to push its 15-point lead back up to 23 at 58-35.
Penn would not get the margin back below 20 until midway through the fourth quarter, and the Quakers scored the game's last five points over the final 2:13 to get the score to its final 14-point margin.
Up Next
Penn is finally back at home next weekend, hosting Yale on Friday night and Brown on Saturday before Cornell comes to town on Saturday, Feb. 22.
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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