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.