Katie Collins – Ivy Hoops Online

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.

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.”

Freshmen shoot Penn women’s basketball past La Salle, 74-63

December 7, 2024 by Palestra Pete

Penn and La Salle were playing a perfectly good women’s basketball Friday afternoon when the Quakers’ Sarah Miller turned it into a sharpshooting match, leading to a Penn win, 74-63.

The 5-foot-10 guard from Phoenix scored a bucket in the first quarter, but she really took off in the second with four straight threes, then added a fifth in the third quarter before her first miss of the day. All in all, she went 6-for-7 plus 4-for-4 on foul shots for a game-high 21 points. Fellow freshman Katie Collins also had a 6-for-7 day, though closer to the basket and in less spectacular fashion, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The win was coach Mike McLaughlin’s 250th at Penn.

Penn women’s basketball loses in overtime to UC Irvine, 72-68

November 22, 2024 by Palestra Pete

The Penn women’s basketball team took another few steps forward Thursday night at the Palestra but came up short in overtime, 72-68, against the University of California at Irvine.

Both sides were tantalizingly close to taking the win in regulation. With a bit more than five minutes left, a three-pointer on a fast break put Irvine up, 60-57. And as the next three minutes ticked away, neither team could score until Penn freshman forward Katie Collins took a pass from Saniah Caldwell and hit a three to tie the game again. A layup for Irvine was quickly followed by another Penn three, this one from freshman Ashna Tambe on a feed from Mataya Gayle. And that one-point Penn lead lasted through an excruciating 90 seconds of missed shots and turnovers for both sides until Irvine’s Hunter Hernandez missed one foul shot but sank the second with five seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Penn women’s basketball picks itself up after falling to Saint Joseph’s

November 18, 2024 by Palestra Pete

No matter what sport you’ve been around, you’ve probably heard it said: A W is a W. An ugly win counts just as much in the record books.

But the opposite isn’t necessarily true, and the Penn women’s basketball team recorded a pretty good loss Friday night to an excellent Saint Joseph’s squad, 68-57, at the Palestra.

For context, look back a year and a day to the last time the two teams met: a 77-49 blowout for the Hawks on their way to a 28-win season (and a Big 5 championship). If anything, the Hawks are stronger this year, while the Quakers are trying to compensate for the loss of All-Ivy forward Jordan Obi to graduation and spark plug guard Ese Ogbevire to injury.

Penn women’s basketball coasts versus Siena to third win

November 14, 2024 by Palestra Pete

A dominant 27-point performance from Stina Almqvist led the Penn women’s basketball team to a 78-47 trouncing of Siena at the Palestra Wednesday night.

Almqvist, an All-Ivy Second Team selection last season, is second to none so far in her senior year, tied for the league lead in scoring for Penn (3-0) with Princeton’s Madison St. Rose at 19.7 points per game. Against Siena (0-3), Almqvist scored six of Penn’s first eight points. She was as efficient as ever for the night, hitting nine of 14 shots from the field and eight of 10 from the free-throw line, and added nine rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.

Penn women’s basketball tops Maine, 56-52

November 10, 2024 by Palestra Pete

Beautiful though Maine may be, any visitor from warmer places can be forgiven for feeling a chill there. (Palestra Pete himself froze his butt off one Memorial Day weekend long ago.) And the Penn women’s basketball team stepped onto the University of Maine’s court Sunday with cold shooting hands. But after that frigid start, the Quakers overtook the Maine Black Bears for a 56-52 win.

Maine had a 7-0 lead before Swedish-born Penn senior Stina Almqvist (no doubt advantaged in cold climates) put in a left-handed scoop. Another Maine basket reclaimed the seven-point advantage, but soon it was the home team that had the cold hands as Penn started a 10-point run.