Saturday night’s game at the Palestra resembled more of an elementary school slumber party than a highly anticipated Ivy League game, with everyone from children to adults donning pink-themed outfits and eating pizza for the annual Pink Zone breast cancer awareness game.
Despite losing three of its last four on the road, the Penn women’s basketball team was able to translate the fun to the court, trouncing Columbia 60-40.
“It’s hard to put into words how hard we’ve worked for this,” said senior guard Erin Power, who finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
After blowing away Cornell Friday night, 51-33, Penn (9-12, 3-4 Ivy) opened the game Saturday with a 9-0 run. The Lions (5-17, 4-4) responded with an 8-0 streak of their own, led by a flurry of three-pointers from standout guard Brianna Orlich, who had three in the half.
The teams stayed close for the rest of the period, ending the first half at 25-all. Freshman guard Meghan McCullough led the team at the intermission with eight points coupled with four steals, finishing with six on the night.
In the second half, the Quakers came out with a new resolve and blew the game wide open with a 12-1 run.
Penn’s defense held Columbia to 26 percent shooting in the second frame, while forcing the Lions into 10 more turnovers. Orlich was held to only one three in the second half.
Led by Power’s double-double, the Red and Blue owned the glass, outrebounding the Lions, 41-29, on the night.
Junior Jess Knapp continued her all-around consistency, finishing with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds to go with three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Penn turned into a whole new team after the intermission, scoring 35 points and giving the ball away only five times.
“In the first half, we were playing their game,” Knapp said. “We wanted to come out and make our presence known — to let them know we are dominant on our home court.”
Despite the comeback, standout guard Alyssa Baron — who set a freshman record scoring 38 points last weekend at Harvard — finished with just eight points on 14 attempts from the field.
“I think she struggled — they defended her well,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “She’ll have to learn that she’s going to be guarded well, but she’ll continue to improve.”
With the win, the Quakers have tied the school record for the biggest turnaround in school history, with seven more wins than last season. The Ivy weekend sweep was also Penn’s first since McLaughlin took over for Penn after the 2008-09 season.
“It’s unbelievable the strides these girls are making,” he said. “A year ago. everyone would have doubted that we could do this.”
Riding two dominant wins, the women will be back at the Palestra next weekend to try and continue the hot streak against Brown and Yale, starting with the Bears on Friday.
