Kaitlyn Chen put the Princeton women’s basketball team on her back and carried the Tigers over the finish line on Monday night in a thrilling 61-58 triumph over the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion.
Villanova
Penn women’s basketball’s comeback falls short at Villanova
You’re playing at Villanova, which has beaten you 45 out of 48 times. You’ve been behind all game, your top scorer is struggling, your hot-shooting freshman guard is on the bench in foul trouble, and a 9-0 Nova run puts you 16 points down in the third quarter.
Looks bleak. But the Penn women nearly pulled off the upset Tuesday night, ultimately falling to Villanova, 68-62.
Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 76-72 upset of No. 21 Villanova
Penn beats Villanova in an amazing game! Congratulations men! Enjoy this special moment! pic.twitter.com/ts4FQrY9xr
— Mike McLaughlin (@MikeMcLaughli) November 14, 2023
With a little ball-fake and a half jab step, Tyler Perkins generated just enough space to rise up over Villanova’s Brendan Hausen and create a memory Penn fans will remember forever.
The freshman sensation used those moves to bury a corner three in front of the Penn bench that pushed the Quakers’ lead over the Associated Press No. 21 Wildcats to 11 points with four minutes to play and sent the Palestra into a frenzy. After weathering one last barrage of Villanova three-pointers, Penn sealed a stunning 76-72 upset over the Wildcats.
For the Quakers (3-1, 1-1 Big 5), the win was their first triumph over a ranked team since a nearly identical upset over Villanova at the Palestra in December 2018; that edition of the Wildcats was defending an NCAA title and entered ranked 17th in the AP poll.
The images the upset generated — Perkins throwing the ball into the air in joy as time expired, fans storming the court — are the ones that, in a perfect world, would create a whole new generation of dedicated Quakers fans.
What else can Penn fans hold onto from a magical Monday night?
Three Quakeaways from Penn men falling at Villanova
Playing in front of a national TV audience on CBS Sports Network, Penn delivered a game, albeit losing, performance against Villanova in a 70-59 loss at the Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night.
A 13-0 run gave Villanova a 10-point lead late in the first half it would not surrender. Despite the best efforts of guard Jordan Dingle — who scored 23 points in the second half and appeared generally unguardable — the Quakers (5-7) never cut their deficit any closer than six points in the second half.
It felt like there were numerous opportunities when the Quakers had a chance to truly make the Wildcats sweat. But Penn just couldn’t quite get the big shot or stop it needed.
Their last, best shot came with about five minutes left in the game. After Villanova’s Caleb Daniels split a pair of free throws, Dingle found senior guard Jonah Charles in the left corner for an open three-pointer in transition. Charles, a three-point specialist, couldn’t convert the look, which would have pulled Penn within five points. The Quakers never seriously threatened after.
It’s obvious that Penn desperately needs guard Clark Slajchert back. The junior, who averages more than 17 points per game, sat out his second consecutive contest with a knee injury. Penn coach Steve Donahue told the Daily Pennsylvanian that Slajchert has a bad bone bruise and is likely out until after Penn’s three-week finals break.
What could Penn fans take away from Wednesday’s tilt?
Penn women drop home opener to No. 24 Villanova, 67-41
The Penn women had their home opener Thursday at the Palestra, and an excellent team showed off its talent and consistently fine play.
Unfortunately for Penn, that team was Villanova, which won 67-41.
Penn women lose well to Villanova after winning ugly at St. Francis Brooklyn
A win’s a win, right? And if you win by 17, you must have done well, right?
Then you lose by three at home — a bad night, of course.
But those two games for the Penn women were paradoxically disappointing and worth celebrating. Mike McLaughlin’s team escaped Brooklyn with a 63-46 victory Thursday over St. Francis. Penn failed to play its game with any consistency, and the Terriers gave the Quakers a good shake and would have had a shot at winning if they hadn’t had a preposterously bad night of shooting — 14-for-62 (22.6%).
Then, on Monday, the Quakers — minus their upper-class leaders — faced their first serious challenge in their first Big 5 opponent of the year, played with verve and discipline, and almost won again.
Carla Berube: A name to remember
You know all the top coaches in the women’s game. Actually, you know them all by their first names.
Geno. Kim. Tara. Dawn. Brenda. And the list goes on. Every fan of the game would come up with those names quickly.
But most would struggle to come up with another. And it belongs. Maybe not in November 2021. But it will by March 2022.
The name is Carla. Yes, Princeton’s Carla Berube.
Princeton women stifle Villanova in season opener, 59-42
Ivy Hoops Online resident Princeton beat writer George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps an impressive Tigers win in the team’s first game in 614 days from Finneran Pavilion:
Penn proves it’s not all about the three-point line in loss at No. 23 Villanova
Penn may have lost 80-69 to Villanova at Finneran Pavilion Wednesday night, but the final score doesn’t reflect the fairly even play between the Big 5 rivals, notwithstanding the strong finishes the Wildcats ended both halves on to clinch the win.
How reigning Big 5 champion Penn (5-4) hung with the Wildcats (6-2) is important.
Penn basketball is playing team basketball – and it’s a whole lot of fun to watch
Question: How many Ivy League hoops squads could lose their leading scorer from the preceding year in the first five minutes of a nascent season and still go on to beat KenPom No. 44 Miami as well as the AP No. 17 defending national champions, all the while compiling an overall 9-2 record?
Answer: None — except Penn.
The fact that the Quakers have been so successful so far this season appears to be less a factor of overall talent (which is substantial nonetheless), and more of a function of overall depth and system.
Nowhere were these latter two qualities on full display than on Tuesday night before a packed house when the Quakers knocked off Villanova, thus ending the Wildcats’ 25 game Big 5 winning streak as well as their painful 16-year reign over Penn.
Before the season started, I wrote for IHO, “Clearly, the marquee game will be against the Wildcats. I can tell you from experience, anything can happen in a Big 5 game. I just hope it happens this year.”
And it did.