PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The fourth-seeded University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team had several chances to come away with a victory, especially trailing by four points in the final seconds, but top-seeded Columbia survived and advanced to the Ivy League championship game, 60-54, Friday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The Quakers finish their season with a 15-13 overall record, finishing fourth place in the Ivy standings with a 6-8 conference mark. The outright Ivy champion Lions improve to 23-5 and will face the winner of No. 2 Princeton and No. 3 Harvard in Saturday's title game.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn ends the 2024-25 season on a three-game losing streak and have lost three consecutive Ivy League Tournament semifinal games since the 2023-24 campaign.
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Stina Almqvist had a team-high 17 points, adding three rebounds, an assist, and three steals. Her three boards got her to the 500-rebound milestone, ending her brilliant collegiate career with 1,110 points and 500 rebounds.
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Mataya Gayle finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and a team-high four assists. She also sank a pair of three-pointers.
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Katie Collins registered 10 points with five rebounds, and a block.
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Brooke Suttle had a bench-high six points, six rebounds, and added two assists.
*Penn converted eight three-pointers, averaging 33.3 percent (8-for-24) from beyond-the-arc. The Quakers were 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the free-throw line.
*The Quakers held the Lions to just two three-pointers the entire afternoon. Columbia was 2-for-11 from deep. Unfortunately, they shot an efficient 42.2 percent (19-for-45) from the field.
*Penn's defense forced 17 Columbia turnovers, turning into 13 points. The D also limited leading scorers Kitty Henderson, Cecelia Collins, and Riley Weiss to a combined 18 points. Susie Rafiu led the Lions with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.
How It Happened
Columbia won the opening tip, but the Quakers got on the board first after
Simone Sawyer hit a trey from the left wing. Penn's defense continued to apply pressure in the opening four minutes, forcing three Columbia turnovers and a five consecutive missed field goals.
After a drought of seven straight missed field goals, the Lions finally cracked the scoreboard with a three-pointer to take a slim lead.
Mike McLaughlin took a timeout—becoming the media—with 4:07 remaining and Columbia in front, 6-3.
The Lions kept pouring it on after the break, making it nine unanswered points with 2:20 left, leading 11-3.
Mataya Gayle broke a lengthy Columbia scoring run with a triple at the buzzer, trimming the lead to 13-6 after 10 minutes.
Saniah Caldwell cut the gap to six points early in the second quarter on a three-pointer, making it a 17-11 lead for the Lions. Columbia upped the edge to 19-13 at the U5 media timeout with 4:52 remaining.
Stina Almqvist finally got on the board with back-to-back three-pointers in the last two minutes of the half, making it a four-point game at 23-19.
Both teams traded buckets the rest of the period with Columbia taking a 27-21 lead into the locker room.
The Lions opened the second half on a 6-1 run, extending the lead back to double digits at 33-22 with 7:40 remaining. They added three more points, to force McLaughlin to spend a timeout, trailing 36-22. Nearly halfway through the stanza, Columbia had drilled six of its last seven shots and took a 13-point lead with 5:47 to go.
Penn ended up concluding the quarter on a 5-0 run, making it an 11-point game at 45-34 heading into the final stanza.
Gayle and Almqvist put down a pair of shots that cut the Columbia lead back to single digits, and Gayle's layup with 7:53 to go made it a seven-point game at 47-40. The Lions' lead was eight at the U5 media timeout.
With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Penn had missed four of its last five shots and trailed by eight, 55-47 with 1:45 to go.
Layups from Gayle and Almqvist again kept it a six-point game with 32 seconds to play, while Columbia upped the advantage to seven on a free throw. With 10 seconds left, Collins drilled a three-pointer that made it a four-point Columbia cushion, but more foul shots from the Lions ultimately put the contest out of reach, picking up a 60-54 win.
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