Palestra Pete

Big fourth quarter lifts Penn women’s basketball past Yale

February 15, 2025 by Palestra Pete

In a game it had to win, the Penn’s women’s basketball team missed shot after shot, giving up a lead and then just keeping even with lowly Yale.

And then the third quarter ended and the fun started at the Palestra, as the Quakers blew past the Bulldogs with 27 fourth-quarter points to take the win, 71-59, Friday night. That sets up a Saturday afternoon showdown with Brown as a key game for Penn to stay relevant in the run for the Ivy League Tournament.

Penn women’s basketball breezes to 80-60 victory over Yale

February 2, 2025 by Palestra Pete

The Penn women’s basketball team has had its struggles and arrived in New Haven needing to reset. That’s just what it did Saturday with a dominant performance against Yale, 80-60.

Four Quakers shared the bulk of the scoring: Stina Almqvist with 18 points (plus a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks), and Mataya Gayle, Simone Sawyer and Katie Collins with 17 apiece.

Alyssa Moreland powers Brown women’s basketball past Penn

February 1, 2025 by Palestra Pete

Just days after hitting career highs to beat Dartmouth, Brown junior forward Alyssa Moreland exceeded those marks in overpowering Penn, 65-57, Friday night in Providence.

Moreland was pretty much unstoppable inside, racking up 25 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 10-for-19. And classmate Grace Arnolie matched her output from outside, with 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including a devastating 4-for-5 on threes. The rest of the Brown Bears hit just one of their 17 shots from beyond the arc, but Moreland and Arnolie were enough to beat the Red and Blue.

How Columbia women’s basketball routed Penn to stay atop the Ivy League

January 26, 2025 by Palestra Pete

For 10 minutes Saturday in New York, the Penn and Columbia women’s basketball teams had a real game going, with no evidence of which was undefeated in Ivy play and which had just one Ivy win.

But basketball games are 40 minutes long, and after the first quarter, the Lions roared past the Quakers for a 79-54 romp that kept Columbia atop the league standings and Penn near the bottom.

Harvard women’s basketball dominates Penn, 73-44

January 21, 2025 by Palestra Pete

In a season of dominance for Harvard women’s basketball and one of learning for Penn, the surprise Monday in Philadelphia was the tie score after the first quarter.

But the result, in the end, was about what you might have expected: a 73-44 Harvard win.

Penn women’s basketball tops Cornell for first Ivy League win

January 19, 2025 by Palestra Pete

The Penn women’s basketball team never trailed Saturday and took its first Ivy League win of the season at Cornell, 57-51.

Both sides had had a stumbling 0-2 start to conference play, so the math was clear: Somebody would get a W. Penn did it with three players in double figures and with better than abysmal shooting, but this wasn’t a thing of beauty for either side. The Quakers managed a respectable 39% shooting from deep but a less than impressive 37% from inside the arc. Facing a Big Red team diminished by the injury that has sidelined star senior forward Summer Parker-Hall, the Quakers built leads of as many as a dozen points but still had to stave off a comeback in the final minutes that drew Cornell to within two.

Dartmouth women’s basketball tops Penn, 61-49

January 11, 2025 by Palestra Pete

There was a time when Dartmouth dominated Ivy League basketball—when the Big Green would win 12 or 13 of their 14 conference games before dancing off to the NCAA Tournament (and, yes, losing to the likes of Purdue, Connecticut and Maryland—this isn’t a fairy tale).

More recently, Dartmouth would lose 12 or 13 or all 14 of those Ivy games. The postseason consisted of waiting (and waiting) for spring to come to New Hampshire.

On Saturday, the Big Green arrived in West Philly to explain to Penn that times have once again changed.

Columbia women’s basketball claws past Penn, 74-59

January 4, 2025 by Palestra Pete

The Columbia women’s basketball team opened the defense of its Ivy League title by putting Penn deep in a hole early on, watching as Penn charged back to take the lead at halftime, and then reclaiming the game comfortably, 74-59, Saturday at the Palestra.

“It’s a great first game for us to learn a lot,” Columbia head coach Megan Griffith told reporters afterward.

“We talked about making a statement,” Griffith said. “Regardless of who [the opponent] is, especially when you’re playing against, one, a good team, and, two, a really good coach.”

Solid effort falls short for Penn women’s basketball at Arizona State

December 31, 2024 by Palestra Pete

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.

Penn women’s basketball squashes Delaware State, 72-45

December 21, 2024 by Palestra Pete

The Penn women’s basketball team got an early holiday present Friday: a young Delaware State team it could beat soundly while giving some first-year Quakers time in the spotlight.

With a game-high 14 points off the bench for center Tina Njike (a sophomore sidelined by injuries last season), Penn beat Delaware State, 72-45, at the Palestra for its fifth win in a row, and Del State’s fifth straight loss. At a muscular 6-foot-2, Njike showed strong moves to the rim for Penn (8-3) as well as a good touch from midrange with 6-for-8 shooting and four rebounds, plus 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, in 16 minutes on the court.