Top 5 Penn basketball plays of the week: Yale and Brown

This weekend was a mixed bag for Penn basketball. While both the men’s and women’s teams were able to secure a win over Brown, the pair also picked up losses against Yale. Facing Yale was always going to be a challenge, but Penn basketball’s wins over Brown made it a worthwhile weekend.

Here are the five plays from those four games that had the biggest impact and were the most impressive:

5. Marianna Papazoglou extends the lead

Penn women’s basketball was playing with its hair on fire against Brown on Saturday. While freshman guard Marianna Papazoglou only added five points to the stat sheet, her big shot late in the fourth quarter helped push Penn’s momentum. After swinging the ball around from the top of the key into the deep left corner, Papazoglou nailed a three-pointer to put the Quakers up by 11.

4. Kayla Padilla loses her defender for a three-point look

Against Yale on Friday, Penn women’s basketball took a slow start. Down 26-11 by the end of the first quarter, the Red and Blue needed some juice to attempt a comeback. After a three from senior forward Kennedy Suttle, junior guard Kayla Padilla followed the next possession with a three of her own. Feeding the ball to sophomore forward Jordan Obi into the post and faking a cut downhill, Padilla quickly cut back to behind the three-point arc, making herself open for a shot. Without hesitation, Obi sent the ball back to Padilla, and the Quakers gained momentum.

3. Jordan Dingle hits a tough and-one three

Falling behind Brown by double-digits in the first half, Penn men’s basketball turned to star sophomore guard Jordan Dingle to mount the comeback. Penn scored 12 points in a row, putting the Quakers back on top late in the second quarter. A large part of that shift can be attributed to Dingle’s and-one three-pointer. 

2. Kayla Padilla shows off her quarterback skills

Late in the third quarter against Brown, Padilla secured a rebound after a missed shot by the Bears. Immediately looking downcourt, Padilla launched a full-court pass to a wide-open senior guard Mia Lakstigala streaming towards the hoop. The second the ball left Padilla’s hands, everyone knew Penn was going up another two points.

1. Clark Slajchert proves why he’s the most confident player on the team

Sophomore guard Clark Slajchert has repeatedly been described a player with confidence and swagger. On Saturday against Brown, Slajchert proved that. Down by one with 5.1 seconds left on the clock, Slajchert caught the inbound at around half court; he immediately put on the jets and dashed towards the hoop. Even with a Brown defender hounding him all the way down, Slajchert made a great finish around the rim to seal the game. 

While Brown may not have been ready for it, everyone who knew Slajchert had no doubt that he’d win the game.