ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team survived an overtime thriller against Cornell in Ithaca, 72-66.

Penn improved to 14-8 overall, 4-5 in Ivy League play; Cornell fell to 8-14, 3-6 in Ivy League play.

Quaker Notemeal
* Mataya Gayle led the Quakers with 23 points, while also becoming the 27th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.

* Penn outscored Cornell in the paint, 38-24.

* The Quakers totaled 20 offensive rebounds, converting into 26 second chance points.

* Penn won the rebound battle, 45-31.

* Four players recorded at least eight rebounds for Penn.

* Brooke Suttle recorded 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

How It Happened
Both teams entered Friday night's battle hungry to get back in the win column after coming off a loss.

After pouring in 20 points in the last matchup at the Palestra, Emily Pape picked up where she left off for the Big Red.

The senior kickstarted a three-point explosion for Cornell as she nailed back-to-back from behind the arc right out the gate.

Katie Collins responded with a mid range jumper for Penn's first basket, and added a layup off a baseline inbound on the next Quaker possession.

Mataya Gayle scored her first basket of her historic evening off a steal and score on the fast break as Penn closed in on the Cornell lead.

Rachel Kaus hit a jumper from the elbow after the first media timeout as Cornell extended its lead to seven.

A pair of free throws from Collins with another layup cut the Cornell lead to three as Penn trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Kaus immediately opened the second quarter with a layup as Cornell looked to stretch its lead again.

However, Collins and the Quakers would not back down as both teams traded baskets for a few minutes until Mataya Gayle caught fire.

Penn took its first lead midway through the second quarter as Gayle laid it up for two.

The junior scored nine points in the second quarter as the Quakers began to mount a comeback.

She finished the first half with 11 points, just four away from hitting the 1,000 career points milestone.

Tina Njike scored the final points of the half with a layup as Penn took a 33-31 lead into half.

Similarly to how she opened the game, Pape nailed a three-pointer to begin the second half as Cornell retook the lead.

But Gayle responded with a corner three for the Quakers as the lead was reversed again.

After a couple traded baskets, Cornell retook the lead on a Audrey Chen three-pointer as the Big Red went back up three.

Gayle responded again for the Quakers as she drove baseline for a reverse layup as she scored her 1,001'st point in her Penn career.

Despite Cornell starting the second half three for five from behind the arc, Penn's offense kept them in the game.

Saniah Caldwell hit back-to-back three-pointers as the Penn offense began to explode at the end of the third quarter

The Quakers went on a 13-0 run to end the third quarter, capped off by another Gayle three, as Penn led 52-46 heading into the fourth.

Gayle scored the first field goal of the fourth quarter for her 21st point as Penn had its largest lead of seven with 8:05 to play.

Both teams battled for the next seven minutes as the game became neck-and-neck.

A personal six point run by Kaus knotted things up at 62 with 1:33 left as Penn called a full timeout.

Both teams had a pair of possessions to take a lead but failed to convert as the game went into overtime.

Kaus and Njike traded buckets to begin the overtime period as both teams fought tooth-and-nail for the pivotal Ivy League win.

A driving layup by Simone Sawyer gave the Quakers a four point lead with 36 seconds left as the Quakers survived in Ithaca, 72-66.

Up Next
Penn heads across the state to take on Columbia tomorrow night.

Tip-off is slated for 5 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.