PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team came away with a 64-55 victory over Columbia at home on Saturday night, snapping the Lions five-game winning streak.

Penn improved to 13-7 overall, 3-4 in Ivy League play; Columbia fell to 14-6, 5-2 in Ivy League play.

Quaker Notemeal
*Mataya Gayle led the Quakers in scoring with 16 points, while also tallying seven assists.

*Four players scored in double figures for Penn, including Tina Nike and Simone Sawyer (10), and Brooke Suttle (11).

*Penn shot 40 percent from the floor, 23/57.

*Njike recorded her fourth double double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

*There were 12 lead changes in the game.

*Penn scored 30 points in the paint, 18 from behind the arc.

*Penn scored 17 second chance points off 12 offensive rebounds.

*The Red and Blue recorded just 10 turnovers, tying their second lowest in a game this season.

*Head coach Mike McLaughlin won his 270th game at Penn, his 21st against Columbia.

How It Happened
Both teams came out the gates with an aggressive attacking mindset on both sides of the floor.

Penn recorded three steals in the first three minutes as they made it difficult for Columbia to get their offense started.

Tina Njike scored the game's first basket on a post hook off an assist from Mataya Gayle.

Despite playing with physicality and high pace, the Lions could not find their touch offensively as they began the game 0-5 from the field.

Finally, Susi Rafiu found Perri Paige cutting on a backdoor layup for Columbia's first basket.

Gayle was an assist maestro as she recorded assists on both of the first two baskets for Penn, this time finding Katie Collins for a mid range jumper at the top of the key.

The Quaker offense then went into a three minute scoring drought, but held strong defensively only allowing Columbia to go up by two.

Collins scored again, tying the game at 6, after Nasi Simmons laid it up for the Lions.

Columbia tried but failed to pull away from Penn by relying on the three ball, but shot just 1/8 from downtown in the first quarter.

Both teams began trading buckets for the remainder of the first quarter as Columbia had a two point advantage heading into the second quarter, 12-10.

Gayle opened up the second quarter with a pull up jumper as the game was tied once again.

Paige immediately responded for the Lions on the next possession with a layup as Columbia retook the lead.

Penn fell into another scoring drought that lasted over three minutes, but once again Columbia could not find consistency on offense, missing their next four shots.

Gayle began to lead an offensive outburst for the Quakers as she stripped the ball away and found Sawyer in stride for a fast break layup as Penn trailed by just one.

She then followed with a jumper and a layup on the next two possessions as Penn took a 18-15 lead.

Columbia responded to tie the game with a three from Maria Arrebola with under five minutes left in the first half.

The teams went back and forth to close the half but a five point run by Collins in the final minute tied the game at 25 a piece heading into halftime.

With the game knotted up at halftime, both teams looked to gain an advantage on the other to begin the second half.

Columbia struck first as Rafiu made a hookshot from the post to start the second half, Sawyer responded with a three.

Sawyer knocked down another three a few minutes later which led to a 7-0 run for the Quakers before the media timeout.

Columbia's leading scorer Riley Weiss began to heat up offensively in the final four minutes of the third quarter, scoring nine points.

However, Penn kept it close with tough defense inside as Tina Njike put the finishing touch on the third quarter with a second chance jumper that gave Penn a two point lead heading into the fourth.

After yesterday's tough loss to Cornell, Penn was determined to not let this game slip away from them.

Weiss nailed a three for Columbia to begin the final period as Columbia regained the lead.

However, senior Saniah Caldwell followed by muscling up an and-1 and knocking down the free throw for the Quakers.

Penn took a four point lead off of a Suttle steal and Njike layup before Weiss hit another three for the Lions.

Both teams began trading three point baskets as Gayle and Caldwell hit back to back but Weiss hit her third of the quarter.

A pair of Sawyer free throws stretched Penn's lead to seven with a little over two minutes left to play.

The Lions went to Weiss again as the shooting guard made a turnaround jumper to cut Penn's lead to five.

But Gayle and the Quakers held on by securing defensive rebounds and hitting foul shots down the stretch.

Penn won its 13th game of the season and gave Columbia only its second Ivy League loss of the season.

Up Next
Penn will head to New Jersey to face Princeton next Friday, Feb. 6.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

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