PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will continue Ivy League play this weekend on the road at Cornell on Friday and Columbia on Saturday.
 
The Quakers enter the weekend following a road loss at No. 23 Princeton on Friday night, 69-50.
 
GAME 21 - PENN (13-8, 3-5 Ivy League) vs. CORNELL (8-13, 3-5 Ivy League)
Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 | 6 p.m.
Ithaca, N.Y.
Watch | Live Stats
 
GAME 22 - PENN vs. COLUMBIA (15-6, 6-2 Ivy League)
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026 | 5 p.m.
New York, N.Y.
Watch | Live Stats
 
THE CORNELL SERIES
The Big Red snapped the Quakers 16-game winning streak last time out as they came away with a 62-58 victory at the Palestra on Jan. 30. This was the first win for Cornell over Penn since 2016. Mataya Gayle led the Quakers in scoring with 20 points and Katie Collins recorded a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Emily Pape and Rachel Kaus combined for 38 points for Cornell in the last matchup. Both teams made eight threes in the game, however Cornell shot much more efficiently at 47 percent.
 
THE COLUMBIA SERIES
The Quakers secured an upset win over the Lions last time out at the Palestra, 64-55. Columbia had entered the game fresh off a win over then undefeated in conference play Princeton. The Quakers clinched the win with four players scoring in double figures with Mataya Gayle leading the team with 16 points and seven assists. Penn's offense was extremely efficient, shooting 40 percent from the floor. Columbia struggled, especially from behind the arc, shooting just 20 percent from three-point land. However, the game was neck-and-neck right down to the end with twelve total lead changes. Riley Weiss was terrific for the Lions with 23 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. But Gayle and the Quakers held on by securing defensive rebounds and hitting foul shots down the stretch.
 
SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Since their win over the Quakers, Cornell has lost two straight and are tied for fifth place in the Ivy League standings with Penn at 3-5 in conference play. The Big Red were dominated by Columbia last time out, falling 80-55. Kelsey Langston was the leading scorer for Cornell with a career high 13 points. Cornell's defense struggled to contain the Columbia offense led by Riley Weiss with a game-high 38 points on 65 percent shooting. Cornell continues to struggle offensively, ranking as the lowest team in the Ivy League in points per game. They also struggle with closing out possessions and corralling defensive rebounds and creating second chance opportunities on the offensive glass, ranking as the worst team in the conference in both categories.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Columbia defeated Cornell handily last time behind another outstanding scoring performance by Riley Weiss. Weiss finished with 38 points on 65 percent shooting against the Big Red, including nine three-pointers. She tied Columbia's single-game record for most made threes for the second time this season. The Columbia offense remains one of the top in the conference, sitting just behind Princeton in points per game. The Lions are also elite on the offensive glass averaging 14 offensive boards per contest.
 
QUAKER NOTEMEAL VS PRINCETON
* Senior Simone Sawyer and junior Mataya Gayle tied for team-high scoring honors with 16 each, and both had four rebounds as well.
 
*Gayle also tied for game-high honors with three steals and dished out three assists, while Sawyer had two steals.
 
*Junior Tina Njike nearly had a double-double on Friday night, scoring nine points and leading all players in the game with 10 rebounds (five on the offensive glass).
 
*Sophomore Katie Collins finished the night with seven points, four rebounds and two steals.
 
*Senior Saniah Caldwell led Penn with four assists and tied Gayle for team-high honors with three steals.
 
PENN IN THE IVY STATS
• Penn leads the Ivies and entered the week and 19th nationally in free-throw percentage (.777).
 
• Katie Collins enters the weekend second among Ivy League players in overall rebounds per game (7.9) and blocked shots (1.6).
 
• Simone Sawyer is first among Ivy players in overall free-throw percentage, at .917.
 
• Gayle is first among Ivy players in overall assists per game (4.2) and third in steals per game (2.0).
 
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
7.9 • Collins' rebounds-per-game average so far this season; that is second among Ivy League players behind Alyssa Moreland (10.4)
 
16.0 • Gayle's points-per-game average over the last eight games; she scored 16 points against Princeton.
 
8 • The number of consecutive games that Gayle has scored in double figures this season.
 
33 • Blocked shots by Collins so far this season, second in the Ivy League trailing only Yale's Dorka Kastl (38); Njike is sixth, with 21 blocks.
 
56.9 • Penn's points-per-game scoring defense this season, second in the Ivy League and 26th nationally.
 
15 • Points needed by Mataya Gayle to reach 1,000 in her career.