Although many Penn students spent the weekend returning home for the holidays, the Penn women's basketball team hit the road for a pair of games at the Wonder/Hostess Buckeye Classic in Columbus, Ohio. In the opener on Saturday afternoon, the Quakers (4-3) showed no post-exam fatigue and led the University of Dayton Flyers from start to finish, resulting in a 90-69 victory at Ohio State University's Value City Arena.
Penn raced out to a 29-14 lead with just over eight minutes to go in the first half, and went into the halftime break up 48-29 behind 11 points from senior guard Mikaelyn Austin. Freshman forward and Cincinnati native Monica Naltner expanded the lead to 73-50 with 6:15 to go in the game. Dayton would cut the margin to 78-64 with three minutes to go, but would come no closer.
Freshman guard Joey Rhoads and senior forward Jewel Clark led the Red and Blue with 13 points apiece, and junior guard Cat Marakewich scored 12. Sophomore center Jennifer Fleischer had eight rebounds, nine points and two blocks. Dayton also had four players record double figures, with Jennifer Strong leading the Flyers and all scorers with 17 points.
Penn shot 51.6 from the field, including 11-of-20 from three-point range. Marakewich hit 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for the Red and Blue.
The Quakers will face the host Buckeyes in the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m.
