The Penn women’s basketball team went a long way for is loss Monday to Arizona State – not just in flying to the Southwest, not just in challenging a Big 12 team on its home court, but in playing the Sun Devils even or better for seven-eighths of the game before falling, 73-67.
The worst thing you can say about the Quakers’ day was that they lost but could have won. What matters more, though, is that they had a solid game against a strong opponent and looked ready for Ivy play, which for them starts Saturday afternoon at the Palestra against Columbia. Monday’s game was meaningful in ways that Tuesday’s game, a guaranteed romp over NAIA school Benedictine-Mesa, can’t be.
Penn took the lead at the start, with freshman Sarah Miller – a Phoenix native playing close to home – hitting a three with just three seconds off the clock. And though Miller didn’t go on a tear as she did back in Philly against La Salle, the Quakers tore through the first quarter without falling behind the Aztecs for a second. Sharp passing and backdoor plays plus senior Stina Almqvist’s twisting layups added up to a 25-23 Penn lead after 10 minutes, 41-39 at the half, 56-54 after three quarters. For a team that more typically scores 60 points in a game, this was heady stuff – and fun to watch. The score was tied eight times, and the lead changed 11 times.
As she so often does, Almqvist once again led Penn with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting – evidently not too badly jet-lagged from multiple flights across eight time zones after spending Christmas at home in Sweden. She also repeatedly put her body in the way of Sun Devils driving downhill toward the basket: When a Penn opponent is whistled for an offensive foul, it’s usually Almqvist who’s picking herself off the floor. On Monday, she drew a charge once, and two borderline calls went against her.
Forward Katie Miller had another strong outing against a taller, stronger team: not just a double-double (11 rebounds, 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting), but also a pair of blocks, a steal and six assists. The numbers are all the more impressive because the slim 6-foot-1 freshman spent the afternoon contending with massive 6-foot-3 graduate student and force of nature Nevaeh Parkinson, who racked up 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead ASU.
So what went wrong? The simple answer is that, in the final four-plus minutes, Penn failed to score a basket. After shooting a solid 47% from the field in the first three quarters, the Quakers hit just three of 13 – 23% — in the last period. And they had an off day from outside, sinking just a quarter of their attempted threes.
Still, this loss was no failure. Penn looked ready to contend in the Ivies.