The losing streak continues.
For the 13th time in a row, Penn has fallen 74-60 to its historic rivals Princeton in the 100th matchup between the two programs. Penn women’s basketball (11-10, 2-6 Ivy) now trails 70-30.
The first quarter quickly spiraled into one to forget for the Quakers. At the end of the first 10 minutes, Princeton (16-5, 7-1) led 28-6 — a deficit fueled by Penn’s own mistakes. The only modicum of consolation was sophomore guard Mataya Gayle — the only Quakers player to score in the first frame. The team shot 13.3% from the field.
The wounds were self-inflicted for the Red and Blue. While they forced four turnovers, Penn committed six of their own. Each time, Princeton made them pay — scoring 10 of their points off turnovers at the end of the first quarter.
“I just wasn’t overly pleased with the way we competed out of the gate,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I didn’t think we were sharp enough in the beginning. We weren’t intense enough.”
For Princeton, it was guard Ashley Chea who put on a shooting clinic — nearly half of Princeton’s 44 points in the first half were hers. This first-quarter performance surpassed her previous career-high in a game of 20 points against Rutgers. Chea went on to finish the matchup as the leading scorer of the matchup with 25 points.
Penn had a resurgence of life in the second quarter with a 15-2 scoring run. 12 of their points came from downtown with freshman forward Katie Collins letting it fly from deep. She scored four three-pointers in a row, including one from a forced turnover with a volleyball-style block.
“[Collins] got punched in the nose a few times in the beginning, not physically, but … she really responded [to the point deficit] with back-to-back threes [and] gave us some life,” said McLaughlin. “I was really happy with the way she competed, played, and responded, especially in this environment.”
But the offensive push was hindered by a losing rebounding battle. Penn got out-rebounded 21-11 by Princeton in the first half — including seven offensive rebounds that gave Princeton extra possessions.
“We had a lot of times where we just had to win those loose balls, and maybe that would’ve made a difference in the outcome of the games,” Collins said. “But I think that we did a good job remaining physical, and next time, we just got to emphasize winning the ball.”
Beyond just rebounding, it was a physical first half of play. This led to multiple good steals for the Quakers, including one that led to an and-one for junior guard Simone Sawyer. But the Tigers were relentless. They swarmed the Quakers — causing multiple Red and Blue players to fall to the floor in the first half — which ended with the Quakers falling behind 44-29.
The physicality of the game continued into the second half. Collins got a charge called, and a few minutes later, she was served her fourth foul on a transition play. This sent Penn’s leading scorer to the bench. Senior guard Stina Almqvist, who had been sent to the bench for much of the second quarter, came back in. But she picked up three fouls of her own in less than two minutes.
The foul trouble kept Penn cold and their highest contributor, Collins, out of the game. The offense was frigid, while Princeton’s remained consistent behind a scoring streak from guard Skye Belker’s 10 points, who finished with 15 points.
The whistle became the Red and Blue’s greatest adversary. With seven minutes left in the game, Collins was called for a foul on a loose ball play. Collins finished her debut against Princeton with 18 points, three steals, and three rebounds – plus her five fouls. It was the first time Collins fouled out of a game in her young career.
“I wanted to dive on the ground for the loose ball, but knowing how the ref[eree]s were calling the game, I got to read how they’re calling … and make smarter decisions on defense,” Collins said.
In total, Penn was called for 20 fouls – including four against Almqvist and three against Gayle. It was their highest-fouling game all season. But Princeton also applied a lot of pressure late into the game, including enough to knock Almqvist to the floor — who needed a moment to collect herself before she got up.
Both teams traded a lot of foul shots in the waning minutes. Penn made the most of its trips to the line, going 19-for-22. But Princeton left a lot on the table with an 11-for-21 performance from the charity stripe.
The Quakers finally return home to the Palestra this weekend for rematches against Yale and Brown.
“We have to learn [that] we have to come out of the gate with intensity,” McLaughlin said. “We didn’t particularly do it as well today, but I have no doubt they’ll respond because this is a huge weekend coming up for us with two home games against two teams that are really vital.”
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