HALFTIME: Penn women's basketball locked in another tight game against rival Princeton

Check out the full recap here.

Penn-Princeton isn't any closer than the last time out.

Despite a disconcerted first quarter performance on the offensive end of the floor, Penn women’s basketball was able to rely on characteristically solid defense to go into the first break trailing their foes from Princeton by just three points, 15-12.

When they were able to get shots off – the Quakers turned the ball over three times in the first period and struggled with shot clock awareness – they managed to hit at a 43 percent clip while holding their opponents to just 33 percent on 5-for-15 shooting. 

Nevertheless, Princeton forced the Red and Blue into multiple tough, low-percentage shots. Junior guard/forward Bella Alarie used all of her six-foot, four-inch frame to cause problems in the paint for Penn’s Eleah Parker. After Alarie blocked Parker under the basket, the sophomore center, who is currently second in the nation in blocks per game, responded minutes later on the other end of the court to start a back-and-forth battle that would continue for the rest of the half.

The second quarter saw the Tigers quickly extend their lead to eight, forcing Penn to take a timeout with 6:18 remaining in the half. Ever-determined, the Quakers clawed back, forcing four turnovers in the process, to cut the lead to 24-23 after junior Phoebe Sterba hit her first three-pointer of the game

For the rest of the quarter, both teams found ways to make shots; as the buzzer expired to end the first half, Parker missed a short floater and Penn went into halftime trailing 33-31.