The Penn women’s basketball team, which lost its first three Ivy League games of the season, finally came away with a win over Dartmouth on Monday at the Palestra, 67-59.
Tina Njike
In loss to No. 25 Princeton, a strong showing for Penn women’s basketball
After all those nonconference games, it was time to find out what was real.
Princeton was real. Well, we knew that before the Princeton women’s game Saturday at Penn: The Tigers were 12-1, the only loss — a close one — coming against a mighty Maryland team. And now the Tigers are nationally ranked themselves, the ultimate imprimatur of the sport.
Penn women’s basketball cruises past La Salle for Big 5 Classic win
The ups and downs of the Penn women’s basketball season brought it Sunday to the Big 5 Classic at Finneran Pavilion — not to play for the title but to avoid the odd fate of taking sixth place in the Big 5. And avoid it Penn did, beating La Salle 65-52 behind a 20-point afternoon for Katie Collins.
(The addition of Drexel threw off the numbers of the Big 5 but saved Philly’s treasured rivalry, as even the Villanova men’s team can devote three games instead of the traditional four in playing Big 5 games. Besides, do you know how many schools are in the Big Ten these days? Of course not — nobody does, but estimates range as high as 30.)
Simone Sawyer propels Penn women’s basketball to bounceback win at Hofstra
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Simone Sawyer dominated both sides of the ball on Saturday afternoon, leading the Penn women’s team to a methodical 67-55 defeat of Hofstra at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
The senior guard from Lincolnshire, Ill. led the offense with a 21-point, nine rebound performance and spearheaded a tenacious Quakers defense that shut down the Pride’s top three scorers in the second half.
“This was the best basketball game we’ve seen a guard at Penn play in a long time. Simone Sawyer was that good,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin told Ivy Hoops Online immediately after the game. “She defended 94 feet almost the entire time, she guarded their point of attack. A great effort.”
The victory was a solid return to form, following a tough loss at Drexel earlier in the week, and puts Penn at 3-1 on the young season. Hofstra, meanwhile, moves to 1-2.
Penn women’s basketball pummeled at Drexel in Battle of 33rd Street
Students go to Drexel University for what the school calls “experiential learning,” and that’s exactly what the Penn women’s basketball team got Wednesday night: an educational trouncing.
Can it be love? Penn women’s basketball dominates Delaware State
Think what a first date is like: at least a four on the awkward scale, no matter what your mutual friend or dating app said about how you would mesh and have a good time.
You suggest coffee at your favorite neighborhood shop at 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon — low-key, low-pressure, perfect for a getting-to-know-you chat that can end in 30 minutes or stretch to 90 if things go well. Then maybe it’s dinner Friday night (Peruvian? Thai? One of their favorites, but no place fancy) — more talk, some flirting, some awkwardness but not too bad. You come home (alone, let’s assume) and think things could have gone much worse — that there’s enough promise to try again, that next time you won’t run right past the conversational passes.
Penn women’s basketball notches season-opening win over King’s
The outcome of the Penn women’s first basketball game of the season was decided the moment it was scheduled: The Red and Blue would overwhelm King’s College, a Division III team from Wilkes-Barre, and showcase their new and returning players in a low-pressure tip-off. King’s, meanwhile, would face big-school challenges that could boost its play for the coming season — and get a kick out of playing in front of family at the Palestra. (Every woman on the King’s roster is from Pennsylvania or New Jersey, many from the Philly area.)
Penn women’s basketball squashes Delaware State, 72-45
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.
Penn women’s basketball shows off its youth brigade
The last time we saw the Penn women’s basketball team, it was within seconds of a stunning upset of Princeton in Ivy Madness. Penn may well have succeeded but for an egregious foul call.
The last time we saw the Quakers, forward Jordan Obi was one of the Ivies’ premier players, a 6-foot-1 senior forward with guard skills and linebacker strength.
Now Obi has brought her number zero to the roster of the No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats, and Penn coach Mike McLaughlin is looking through an intriguing collection of new pieces to put together the puzzle of another Ivy contender. He showed them off Saturday at the Palestra in the annual Red and Blue Scrimmage.
Penn women’s basketball’s comeback falls short at Villanova
You’re playing at Villanova, which has beaten you 45 out of 48 times. You’ve been behind all game, your top scorer is struggling, your hot-shooting freshman guard is on the bench in foul trouble, and a 9-0 Nova run puts you 16 points down in the third quarter.
Looks bleak. But the Penn women nearly pulled off the upset Tuesday night, ultimately falling to Villanova, 68-62.