PHILADELPHIA – Basketball is nearly back in University City! Ahead of the beginning of the 2026-27 season, the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team was selected to finish fourth in the Ivy League's preseason poll, the conference office announced Thursday afternoon.
 
Voted on by members of the media, Penn was predicted to qualify for the Ivy League Tournament for a fourth time in the last five seasons and make its seventh appearance all-time. The Quakers are on the hunt for their seventh Ivy League title and first since 2019.
 
The Red and Blue tallied 104 voting points to finish behind Princeton (161, 15 first-place votes), Columbia (149, five), and Harvard (131, one). Brown was picked fifth with 74 points, followed by Cornell in sixth (60), Yale seventh (48), and Dartmouth in eighth with 29.
 
Head coach Mike McLaughlin returns two All-Ivy selections in Katie Collins (second team) and Mataya Gayle (honorable mention). In total, Penn welcomes back 10 returners from the 2025-26 season while six new members joined the program in the offseason. Key starters—Simone Sawyer and Saniah Caldwell—from a season ago were lost to graduation.
 
The 2026-27 campaign begins on November 3, as Penn hosts Swarthmore at The Palestra to begin the historic venue's 100th anniversary.

Ivy League Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

1. Princeton - 161 (15 first place votes)
2. Columbia - 149 (5 first place votes)
3. Harvard – 131 (1 first place vote)
4. Penn - 104
5. Brown - 74
6. Cornell - 60
7. Yale - 48
8. Dartmouth - 29
 
For the latest on Penn Women's basketball, follow @PennWBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.