Penn women’s basketball is still alive in the hunt.
After defeating Brown on Saturday, the Quakers had a short turnaround against Cornell. Fighting to the finish line, the Quakers put intense pressure on Cornell — outlasting them by a final score of 68-63 to secure its fifth Ivy League win of the season.
Coming off of two Ivy League wins against Yale and Brown, Penn (14-10, 5-6 Ivy) was off to a confident start with sophomore guard Mataya Gayle hitting a three-pointer in the first play. The starting five got into a rhythm quickly but were met with fierce defense as the Big Red (7-17, 3-8) was eager to prove themselves after its 57-51 loss to Penn in January.
The teams battled pretty evenly throughout the first quarter. After a strong game against Brown, where she earned her 1,000th career point for the Red and Blue, senior guard Stina Almqvist led the team in first-quarter scoring — collecting nine out of the team’s 16 overall points. Both squads essentially matched rebounds in the first quarter, going 10-9 in favor of Penn, which certainly contributed to the close score as the quarter ended with the Quakers leading 16-15.
The second quarter was much of the same with the teams neck and neck. Cornell forward Emily Pape led Cornell in scoring 10 points and helped to secure several rebounds for the Big Red. Almqvist matched her dominating play, with 11 points by the end of the half.
Despite her prowess, Almqvist made it clear that her teammates played a major role in all of her points.
“It’s not just me scoring, it’s the decoy of getting someone a cut that gets the lane open for me to finish the basket,” Almqvist said.
While freshman forward Katie Collins was able to score crucial points at the free throw line, she struggled with field goals — going 0-for-6 in the first half. The half ended with the Big Red leading 30-28, leaving room for the game to go either way.
Entering the final two frames, both teams needed to tighten up play as each worked towards creating a significant scoring gap. Despite this, neither team was able to take off, and the third quarter ended with Cornell leading 43-42. Both teams brought the energy and fought hard for rebounds, though the Quakers were able to widen the rebounding gap to 31-25 — much of which can be attributed to Almqvist’s eight rebounds in the first three quarters. Some players tightened up on scoring in particular, like Cornell forward Summer Parker-Hall who scored six points in the third quarter, and similarly Gayle who scored seven points herself.
Both teams came out ready to fight for a win in the fourth quarter. Throughout the season, Almqvists’s strength has been on full display, but Penn’s supporting cast has not been as consistent. But the final quarter proved that the team has not faltered when it comes to trusting the supporting cast to make shots. Despite struggling throughout the night, and with the game on the line, Collins swished a fourth-quarter three-pointer to extend Penn's lead from 55-51 to 58-51.
”I guess I did notice she was missing shots, but I wasn’t really worried because I know when it matters she’s gonna knock that down,” Gayle said on Almqvist’s resilience.
This crucial moment where she was able to widen the gap ultimately helped to determine the trajectory of this 68-63 win. The resilience exhibited by Collins was something that the entire team showed today, as each player didn't falter in the face of tight scoring gaps throughout most of the game.
With there being 18 lead changes throughout the game, the Quakers’ grit in the fourth quarter is what led them to success.
”[I] thought they very much outplayed us in the fourth quarter,” Cornell coach Emily Garner said. “They’re a great team, and they did a great job executing their game plan tonight.”
Heading to play Dartmouth next week, who the Quakers previously lost to by a score of 61-49 in which Almqvist was the only player to break into double-digit scoring, the Quakers showcased a more team-oriented offense.
Almqvist continued her electrifying final season with 25 points and was joined by Gayle and Collins in the double-digits, who scored 18 and 11 respectively. The continued growth of this trio is another big factor in the Red and Blue’s continued success as they reach deeper into Ivy play.
“I think any team in the Ivy can beat any team on any given day,” Almqvist said.
Penn will hit the road to play against the Big Green on Feb. 28, streamed on ESPN+.
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