PHILADELPHIA – In the Ivy League opener for both teams, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team gave No. 25 Princeton all it could handle on Saturday but fell to the Tigers, 74-68.

Penn was down by nine after three quarters, but opened the fourth with a 15-2 run that had the Quakers up by four near the midpoint of the period. However, the experienced Tigers flipped the script with the next eight points and that proved to be enough as the Red and Blue couldn't make up the difference.
 
Penn saw its five-game win streak end and fell to 10-4 overall, while the 25th-ranked Tigers improved to 13-1.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn outrebounded Princeton on Saturday, 36-33, outscoring the Tigers in the paint, 28-24.
 
*Penn dished out 17 assists on its 26 baskets.
 
*Junior Mataya Gayle led Penn in points (17), rebounds (7) and assists (6) while also coming up with two steals.
 
*Sophomore Katie Collins scored 15 points and added six boards.
 
*Junior Tina Njike scored 13 points and snared four rebounds.
 
*Seniors Saniah Caldwell and Simone Sawyer scored six points each, Caldwell's coming on a pair of fourth-quarter three-pointers.
 
*Brooke Suttle stuffed the stat sheet with five points, five rebounds, three assists and the Quakers' only blocked shot.
 
*Gabriella Kelley recorded six points and three rebounds.
 
*Olivia Hutcherson led Princeton with 20 points, while Madison St. Rose scored 15 including her 1,000th career point late in the first quarter. Skye Belker added 10 points while Fadima Tall ended the game with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
How It Happened
The points came fairly easily for Penn early on, the Quakers leading by as much as four and still up 8-7 at the first media timeout However, Princeton hit a triple immediately out of stoppage as part of 8-0 run, then scored seven more in a row after a Gayle layup. Overall, the Tigers used a 21-4 run—holding the Quakers to just a single field goal over the final 5:42 of the period—and were up 25-12 at the end of the quarter.
 
It was still a 13-point game midway through the second quarter, but Collins hit a layup and Kelley followed up with a triple that got the margin to eight at 33-25. That was still the margin at the break (38-30).
 
The third quarter was another evenly played affair. Penn was as close as five points, at 44-39, but Princeton ran off seven in a row over a span of 1:07 to up its lead back to 12. Gayle came back with the game's next five points, getting the Quakers within seven, and Njike sandwiched a bucket between four Tigers free throws. Princeton's lead was 55-46 after three.
 
Penn needed less than three minutes to score the first nine points in the final frame, scoring on four straight possessions to completely erase the deficit. Caldwell started the run, draining a transition trey from the right corner. Njike then converted in the paint, and Suttle made it a one-possession game when she drove and finished left-handed across the lane. Princeton then missed four contested shots in the paint on a single possession, and when Penn finally grabbed the rebound Caldwell found Collins underneath for a layup. That tied the game at 55-55 and Princeton was calling a timeout.
 
Out of the break, the Tigers went to Tall and she converted an and-1 layup. The foul shot missed, though, and Njike gave Penn its first lead since 8-7 with a triple from up top. Gayle followed that up with another trey in front of the Quakers bench, and Penn's lead was 61-57. At that point, the run was 15-2.
 
The 25th-ranked Tigers responded with the next eight points. Hutcherson got three the old-fashioned way, then Taylor Charles drained a triple from up top that pushed the visitors back in front, 63-61. Penn had two chances to draw level but missed both, and then St. Rose got open underneath and Hutcherson found her for a second-chance bucket that made it 65-61. Penn called timeout, and out of the stoppage, Gayle found a cutting Suttle for a layup.
 
Hutcherson got the basket back for Princeton, and Penn's next possession went begging as Collins was forced into a contested layup late in the shot clock. Princeton missed on its next possession, and Penn took timeout down 67-63 with 1:46 left. Out of the stoppage, the ball got to Njike who was fouled and hit both shots with 1:19 left. However, St. Rose converted at the other end.
 
Gayle went backdoor on Penn's next possession but Collins was late to see it, and her pass was picked off. Collins got back and fouled St. Rose on the transition layup, and the senior missed her first shot but made the second for a 70-65 score with 39.7 seconds left.
 
Penn called timeout and inbounded at midcourt, but Gayle's quick three-pointer was well short and the ball went out of bounds to Princeton. The Quakers were forced to foul and Charles missed both with 24.9 seconds left. The Quakers got the rebound, quickly got down the floor, and Caldwell made it a one-possession game with 13.7 seconds left with another triple in front of the Penn bench.
 
Penn fouled Belker on the ensuing inbounds, and she went make-make with 10.9 seconds left to get it back to a four-point margin. Penn then threw it away rushing it up the floor and that essentially ended it, Chea setting the final score on two free throws with 2.8 second remaining.
 
Up Next
Penn is on the road at Brown next Saturday. Tipoff with the Bears is slated for 2 p.m. at Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence.
 
For the latest on Penn women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.