PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will look to earn its first Ivy League victory of the season as Harvard and Dartmouth come to town.
 
The Quakers come into this weekend after falling to Brown in a double overtime thriller in Providence last Saturday.
 
GAME 16 - PENN (10-5, 0-2 Ivy League) vs. HARVARD (8-7, 1-1 Ivy League)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 | 2 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program
 
GAME 17 - PENN vs. DARTMOUTH (9-6, 0-2 Ivy League)
Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 | 2 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program
 
THE HARVARD SERIES
*Saturday's meeting will be the 96th between the Quakers and the Crimson, with Harvard holding a 55-40 advantage in the series. Penn head coach Mike McLaughlin is 17-15 against the Crimson.
 
*The Crimson swept last year's games, taking a 73-44 decision here at The Palestra and then winning 62-44 in Cambridge.
 
*Prior to that, the teams split the season series six years in a row from 2018-24. The teams also met in the 2018 and 2019 Ivy League Tournaments, Penn winning both of those meetings. Overall, both teams have won eight times across the last 16 matchups.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
This year's Crimson squad is led by junior forward Abigail Wright who leads the team in points (15.1) and rebounds (6.9). Harvard crashes the offensive glass better than any team in the Ivy League this season, averaging 15.9 offensive rebounds per game. They rank second in the conference with an average of 37.9 combined team rebounds per contest. Another strong suit of Harvard's game is their ability to convert from the free throw line, as they rank third in the conference at a 76 percent clip. Despite being in the middle of the pack in points per game (64.4), the Crimson struggle shooting efficiently from the floor as they are the lowest ranked team in the conference in field goal percentage. They also sit at the bottom of the conference rankings in assist to turnover ratio as they struggle with effectively distributing and taking care of the ball.
 
THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
*Monday's game will be the 92nd meeting between the Quakers and the Big Green, with Penn holding a 47-44 lead in the all-time series. Head coach Mike McLaughlin is 26-4 against Dartmouth.
 
*These teams split the season series last year, the road team winning each time. Dartmouth won the first game here at The Palestra, 61-49, but Penn rebounded for a 66-37 victory up in Hanover.
 
*Prior to that, Penn had won 18 in a row and 24 of the previous 25 over the Big Green.
 
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth has posted the conference's best scoring defense average this season, allowing just 54.7 points per game. The Big Green have held opponents to just 38 percent shooting this season, good for third in the Ivy League. On the offensive side, Dartmouth relies heavily on the three ball as they average seven makes a game on the second highest percentage in the conference (31%). Junior forward Cate Macdonald is the only player to average double figures points this season (10.9), however the other four starters average at least seven points per game. Sophomore forward Olivia Austin leads the team in field goals made (56) and percentage (51.9%).
 
QUAKER NOTEMEAL AT BROWN
*Crazy game in which Penn never led in regulation and the teams were tied just twice, at 0-0 and then 50-50 at the end of regulation. The Quakers led twice in the first overtime before losing steam in the second extra session.
 
*Junior Mataya Gayle led Penn in points (18), assists (4) and steals (4) and also grabbed seven rebounds in the contest, with three of them coming on the offensive glass.
 
*Sophomore Katie Collins—who had swept the Ivy League and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week honors the previous Monday—posted her second double-double in four games with 13 points and a game-high 11 boards. She also dished out three assists.
 
*Senior Saniah Caldwell knocked down five three-pointers in the game on 11 attempts on the way to 16 points, one shy of her season high. She also had three rebounds and two assists.
 
*Senior Simone Sawyer, was Penn's other double-digit scorer last weekend in Providence, dropping 10 points to go with two rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
*Sophomore Brooke Suttle also filled the stat sheet against the Bears with four points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
*Gayle played 49:01 of the 50 minutes in the game, while Collins played 47:34 and Caldwell was on the floor for 43:30 of game time. Suttle came off the bench but ended up playing 39:20.
 
PENN IN THE IVY STATS
*Penn leads the Ivies and entered the week sixth nationally in free-throw percentage (.803).
 
*Collins enters the weekend second among Ivy League players in overall rebounds per game and blocked shots.
 
*Sawyer is second among Ivy players in overall free-throw percentage, at .900 (45-50); Yale's Ciniya Moore leads the league at .906 (48-53).
 
*Gayle is third among Ivy players in overall assists per game (4.3)—behind Dartmouth's Zeynep Ozel (4.5)—and fourth in steals per game (1.8).
 
AYE AYE, CAPTAINS!
Penn has five players leading the team as captains in 2025-26, tying a program record for a single season. The leadership group is made up of seniors Saniah Caldwell, Simone Sawyer, and Georgia Heine, as well as junior Gayle and sophomore Collins. There have been just two other seasons in program history when the Quakers had five captains: 2004-05 and 2020-21 (which was canceled due to COVID-19).
 
PENN WBB BY THE NUMBERS
8.0 - Collins' rebounds-per-game average so far this season; that is second among Ivy League players behind Alyssa Moreland (10.7)
 
13.2 - Collins points-per-game average this season; she scored 13 points against Brown, her sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures.
 
25 - Blocked shots by Collins so far this season, second in the Ivy League trailing only Yale's Dorka Kastl (29); Njike is seventh, with 15 blocks.
 
57.3 - Penn's points-per-game scoring defense this season, good for third among Ivy League teams (behind Dartmouth's 54.7 and Brown's 55.9) and 42nd nationally.
 
80.3 - Penn's free-throw percentage for the season, highest in the Ivy League.

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