PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team fell to Harvard, 53-42, in the 16th game of the season.

Penn moved to 10-6 following the loss, 0-3 in Ivy League play; Harvard improved to 9-7, 2-1 in Ivy League play.

Quaker Notemeal
*Mataya Gayle led all scorers with 16 points for the Red and Blue.

*Katie Collins scored 12 points, her seventh consecutive game scoring in double figures.

*Five Quakers recorded at least one steal, three recorded at least two.

*Penn was outrebounded, 41-31.

*Harvard scored 28 points in the paint to Penn's 16.

*Abigail Wright finished with a double-double for the Crimson, 14 points and 10 rebounds.

How It Happened
The Quakers got off to a hot start, hitting their first three shots and taking an 8-0 lead just two minutes into the game.

Mataya Gayle had the hot hand early on, nailing back-to-back three-pointers to kickstart Penn's offense.

Njike followed with a layup off of a dump-in from Katie Collins as Harvard called its first timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Penn forced Harvard into a 10 second violation as all seemed to be trending positively for the Quakers.

The Crimson missed their first five shots of the game as Penn extended its lead to double digits on a Collins floater.

Harvard finally scored its first basket after a five minute scoring drought as leading scorer Abigail Wright converted a layup off a fast break.

Wright would go on to score another basket for Harvard shortly afterwards as the team began to pound the ball inside.

An Alayna Rocco three-pointer for Harvard in the final 30 seconds of the quarter cut the Penn lead to seven as the scoreboard read 14-7 at the end of the first period.

Both teams began to cool down offensively in the second quarter as no points were scored for either squad in the first two and a half minutes.

Finally, Brooke Suttle muscled up an and-one for the Quakers first basket of the second period.

However, Penn's offense began to struggle mightily as they missed their next six shots which allowed Harvard to take its first lead of 17-16 with 2:55 left in the half.

The Crimson extended their lead to three on a made layup from Saniah Glenn with under two minutes left as Head Coach Mike McLaughlin called timeout.

Harvard went on a 10-0 run lasting over five minutes as they led 19-16 heading into the halftime break.

The Quakers scored just two points in the second quarter as they entered the locker room on a nearly seven minute scoring drought.

Harvard struck first in the second half as Wright flipped in another layup.

The Quakers looked to muster up the same offensive flow they began the game with as Njike responded with a three-pointer.

But Harvard wouldn't go away easily as Karlee White immediately answered with a three of her own.

The Crimson would then go on another 10-0 run as they hit five of their first six shots coming out of the half.

After another scoring drought lasting three minutes, Collins finally got the Quakers back on the scoreboard with a three from the top of the key.

She also hit a pair of free throws as the Quakers cut the lead to single digits.

However, just like in the first half, Penn could not generate consistency on the offensive end as they failed to convert on a field goal over the course of the last four minutes of the third quarter.

Harvard held a 41-28 lead heading into the final period.

Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Crimson took a 10 point lead as Penn called another timeout.

Both teams struggled to hit shots in the fourth quarter shooting a combined eight of 30 as Harvard held on to win its ninth game of the season.

Up Next
Penn is at home one more time this weekend, hosting Dartmouth on Monday (MLK Day). The matchup with the Big Green is slated for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.