In Friday's 51-46 loss to Cornell, junior Sydney Stipanovich became just the sixth player in Penn women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in her career.
Credit: Ananya Chandra , Ananya ChandraNEW YORK — Things are going to be interesting down the stretch for Penn women’s basketball.
After losing for the first time in Ivy League play at Cornell on Friday, 51-46, the Quakers rallied to beat down Columbia, 60-42, Sunday afternoon.
It was as if the Red and Blue needed the jolt Friday night provided, struggling to control the flow of the game early.
The two teams traded points to start, as Penn (21-4, 10-1 Ivy) trailed, 14-13, through the first quarter. The Quakers wouldn’t have been in the game at all if it weren’t for junior forward Sydney Stipanovich, who made six of her first seven shots, finishing with a team-high 16 points.
Adding eight rebounds to her total, the St. Louis native became just the sixth player in program history to log 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career, eclipsing both milestones one the night.
“Right now, you can’t really look at that,” Stipanovich said of the milestone, demurring on its importance. “I think when I graduate and when my career is over, it’ll be nice to look back on. But right now my focus is pretty much on these games.”
Scoring slowed into the second quarter, with a free throw from sophomore forward Michelle Nwokedi being the only point in the first three minutes. Back-and-forth play followed, with the Big Red (14-12, 6-6) eventually gaining a little separation, taking a 29-25 lead into the half.
“I think they just came out strong and it just shocked us in the beginning,” sophomore guard Anna Ross said. “It got us out of our usual flow and we didn’t come back as strong in the first half.”
Out of the break, Cornell stretched its lead to nine, 42-33, and no one from the Red and Blue seemed able to take over the game.
“I just think we got outplayed,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “They moved the ball better, I thought the ball movement was better than ours. They made quite a few shots late in the shot clock.”
They would enter the final frame with the nine-point deficit, and it just proved too much for the Quakers. Penn’s defense returned to form in the quarter, holding the Big Red scoreless for the first six minutes as the offense found the basket four times to pull within one.
A basket for Cornell made it 46-43 before a questionable foul called on Nwokedi brought Cornell forward Nia Marshall to the line. She split her attempts before Ross drained a huge three with two minutes to play. Down 47-46, McLaughlin’s squad would not score again.
After a series of missed shots, Cornell’s Nicholle Aston drained a jumper with 40 seconds to play to bring the lead to three. Nwokedi’s layup attempt at the other end didn’t fall. Aston would eventually hit a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds to play, and the Quakers just couldn’t come back.
With an unusual day off between Ivy games — Sunday’s matchup against the Lions (12-15, 1-11) aired nationally on the American Sports Network — the Red and Blue had time to regroup.
“It was pretty mentally important for us to get back out together,” McLaughlin said. “I thought we were a little bit better in transition, a little bit smoother than Friday night.”
And they came out entirely different at Levien Gym on Sunday. In the opening six minutes, threes from guards Kasey Chambers and Beth Brzozowski matched the team total from Friday — and gave the Red and Blue a 10-8 lead.
Three straight possessions with offensive rebounds from Stipanovich helped give the Quakers the chance to stay ahead of Columbia, and they entered the second quarter up, 15-13.
From there, Penn began to open things up. With four players eventually scoring in double digits — led by 13 from Stipanovich — McLaughlin’s squad was able to spread out play and keep control of the game.
Despite being the only starter not to score in double digits, Ross added four assists and seven boards to go with six assists from Chambers, who tied her career mark.
Columbia was forced into shooting deep threes early and often, and they weren’t able to convert on them. Eventually the Quakers were able to take a 34-20 lead into the half.
Out of the break, it didn’t get closer, going up as much as 24 in the third quarter. By the time the final minutes ticked by, none of Penn’s starters remained on the floor. The Red and Blue played as they had through nine straight Ivy wins. It was as if Friday’s game had never happened.
“I don’t think people need to lose to win again,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s just sometimes it happens, and it’s how you bounce back.”
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