No. 10 Penn fell to No. 7 Washington in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament Saturday at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md., 65-53, ending a Penn season that gave the Quakers a program record for career wins.
Penn (24-5, 13-1 Ivy) led Washington (23-10, 11-7 Pac-12) 13-7 after the first quarter and 25-24 at halftime, giving the Huskies problems with its 2-3 zone. Washington shot just 3-for-18 in the first quarter, as Penn showed off its scoring defense which ranks eighth in the country.
But Washington’s Kelsey Plum engineered a strong second stanza for the Huskies, registering 24 points and seven assists for the game. Sydney Stipanovich led Penn with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The Quakers’ NCAA first-round loss comes a day after at-large representative No. 11 Princeton was bested by No. 6 West Virginia, 74-65, in Columbus, Ohio. Penn won the Ivy League championship outright by defeating Princeton at Jadwin Gym earlier this month.