Simone Sawyer went out with a bang, and the Penn women’s basketball team wrapped up its season sooner than it wanted but with an emphatic home win Saturday over Brown, 69-56.
Brown heads to Ivy Madness next weekend as the No. 4 seed, facing Princeton. The loss at the Palestra didn’t change anything there. For Penn, which suffered a crucial double-overtime loss at Brown in January, Saturday’s win was a satisfying bit of payback.
Sawyer, on Senior Day at the Palestra, wrapped up her playing career with 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Three of those steals came in the pivotal second quarter – two of them less than 10 seconds apart – when Penn went from a 12-8 deficit to a 34-29 lead. Brown would reclaim the lead by a point briefly in the third quarter, but Penn soon took the lead back for good and went ahead by as much as 16 in the fourth.
Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said the turnaround came from the defense. “We started off on a little bit of pressure in the zone and quickly got out of that,” he said. “I didn’t like the flow. They were too comfortable. And over the last, I guess, 35 minutes we played man. I thought we were super. I mean, I just thought, defensively, we were so locked in. We made our defense turn into offense; that’s why we had 26 in that [second] quarter.”
Sawyer said the transition game suits her: “That’s where I’ve always been at my best, when I’m at full speed.”
Sophomore forward Katie Collins matched Sawyer with 17 points, on 7-for-15 shooting, and blocked four shots.
Junior point guard Mataya Gayle played less than usual after getting into foul trouble but still collected 13 points and four assists. Brooke Suttle had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting plus eight rebounds. And Abby Sharpe played a key role off the bench, with six points and five rebounds.
For Brown, forward Alyssa Moreland had a double-dozen: 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting and 12 rebounds. Forward Ada Anamekwe had 11 points, mostly on foul shots, and Olivia Young had 11, mostly on threes.
Overall, Penn outshot Brown handily, 45% to 32%. They were even off the glass.
Sawyer and fellow seniors Saniah Caldwell and Georgia Heine got to celebrate one final win.
“It’s bittersweet playing my last game in the Palestra, but my body hurts, so …” Sawyer said laughing. “I’m sad it’s over, but it was a good run, and I’m proud of the way things went this season, even though we didn’t make the tournament. I’m really proud of this group.”
Penn finished at 17-10 overall and 7-7 in the Ivies.
“I can’t say enough about the way we finished,” McLaughlin said.