Five key games for Penn women’s basketball this season

Penn women’s basketball has changed a lot since winning the inaugural women’s Ivy League tournament and appearing in March Madness in 2017. 

Since then, Princeton has won every tournament, and alongside Columbia, the two teams have dominated the conference. The Red and Blue will have plenty of work if they hope to top the conference this season. Their season opens with non-conference play against Merrimack this Friday, with two Big 5 games in the following weeks of November. In December, the Quakers will compete in the inaugural women’s Big 5 classic tournament. The Red and Blue will kick off 2025 with Ivy play against Columbia and cap off the regular season against long-time rival Princeton, who eliminated them from Ivy Madness in the semifinals last year and the year before. 

Here are five of the biggest games to watch this season. 

Nov. 20 at Villanova

The Quakers and Wildcats have as lopsided of a rivalry as it gets — the Quakers have only won three games out of 49 matchups over the years. However, this season, the story doesn’t have a predictable ending. In their 2023 matchup, the two were evenly scoring and fought until the final buzzer. In the fourth quarter, the Quakers made a big push and cut the Wildcats’ lead from 12 to six points before ultimately falling 68-62.  

Both teams have lost valuable pieces since their matchup last year, including 2024 College graduate Jordan Obi for Penn as well as Lucy Olsen and Christina Dalce who were the leading scorers on Villanova's side. The Quakers retain 2024 Ivy League Rookie of the Year sophomore guard Mataya Gayle in addition to 2024 second-team All-Ivy senior guard and captain Stina Almqvist, who were crucial to the well-fought matchup. This Big 5 game will no doubt be an exciting matchup that the Quakers will not give up easily. 

Dec. 6 at Big 5 Classic

Although (hopefully) not a single game for the Quakers, the inaugural Big 5 Classic will be held at Villanova and run with two three-team pods that will determine seeding in a same-day triple-header to decide the Big 5 championship — similar to the current status of the men’s tournament. The Red and Blue’s pod consists of Villanova and St. Joe's. With the spike in popularity of women’s basketball — on both a collegiate and national level — in the past year, the women’s Big 5 Classic comes at a great time to engage new and long-time fans. The Quakers records with St. Joe’s are not the strongest — with single-digit wins in over 40 matchups — but with transfer shakeups and close recent matchups, the Red and Blue can’t be counted out. 

Jan. 11, 2025 vs. Dartmouth

On the other hand, the Quakers track record against the Big Green is strong with a 18-game win streak and dominating most recent win. Although this is an expected victory, this second matchup of the Red and Blue’s Ivy play will speak to the question of whether the team will pick up exactly where they left off last season in the conference. Highlights from last year's edition of this matchup were Almquvist’s 21 points in 21 minutes and Gayle’s 18 points — again proving they'll be integral pieces to this season overall. 

Jan. 31, 2025 at Brown

The storyline between the Bears and Quakers last season was interesting, to say the least. Last season, Penn edged out Brown for the fourth seed in the Ivy Madness bracket due to beating a higher-seeded team in the regular season. Penn ultimately got the nod for New York after splitting the season series 1-1 against Harvard — a team which swept Brown. Brown notably had a better overall record with 16-11 compared to the Red and Blue’s 15-13. With all that said, the Bears will be out for revenge this season, which will be a tough win to earn as they only prevailed over the Quakers by a three-point margin. Their matchup this season will surely be a thrilling game for on and off-the-court drama. 

Feb. 8, 2025 at Princeton

While not as lopsided of a rivalry as with their Big 5 rivals, the Red and Blue are coming off a 12-game losing streak — their longest — against their Northeast neighbor. However, with some roster shakeups on Princeton’s side, the Quakers seem to be in a better position for this matchup compared to last year. Princeton lost forward Ellie Mitchell and superstar guard Kaitlyn Chen while the Quakers retain Gayle and Almqvist — who both put up double-digit points individually in their last matchup with the Tigers. After a heartbreaking and controversial 59-54 loss to Princeton in last year’s Ivy Madness, the duo and company will be out for blood to rewrite the story this season.