Penn women's basketball huddles during halftime in a game against Princeton during the Ivy Madness tournament on March 15.
Credit: Sonali ChandyNEW YORK — All roads lead to New York.
Earlier this year, Penn women’s basketball opened up Ivy League play in Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium. On March 15, the Quakers once again returned to the Big Apple — this time to face off against archrival Princeton in the Ivy Madness tournament semifinals.
The Quakers entered the matchup in the midst of the program’s longest-ever losing streak against the Tigers, with 11 straight losses. The last loss in this series came less than a week ago, where the Red and Blue were unable to stymie Princeton’s early fourth-quarter explosion en route to a 72-55 loss.
After keeping the score tight with the top-seeded team for much of the game, the Quakers’ night ended in a heartbreaking 59-54 loss. Senior forwards Jordan Obi and Floor Toonders and guard Michaela Stanfield will end their careers representing the Red and Blue (15-13, 7-8 Ivy) without ever experiencing a win against the Tigers (24-4, 14-1).
Earlier this week, Penn saw three of its players receive Ivy League honors. Obi earned first team All-Ivy recognition while junior guard Stina Almqvist was named to the second team All-Ivy, and freshman guard Mataya Gayle took home Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Today, all three showed why they deserved those honors.
Senior forward Jordan Obi attempts a three-pointer against Princeton during the Ivy Madness tournament on Mar. 15.
In her first-ever Ivy League tournament appearance, Gayle finished the game with 20 points against the No. 1 team in the conference. Obi and Almqvist broke double digits as well, finishing the day with 15 and 11 points respectively.
“She's really a talented, skilled, athletic, and smart player that plays really, really hard,” Princeton coach Carla Berube said in reference to Gayle. “And I'm not looking forward to coaching against her for the next three years.”
After the Tigers opened up the scoring, Almqvist quickly got to work, scoring the team’s first points of the game off a free throw after getting fouled while driving to the basket. Gayle joined her on the scoresheet on the following possession, sinking a three-point shot to tie up the game. On the next possession, Gayle found Obi at the top of the arc, who threaded the ball to Almqvist for an easy layup to give the Quakers their first lead of the game.
Unanimous first team All-Ivy selection and former Ivy League Player of the Year guard Kaitlyn Chen scored the first points of the game, but was quiet for much of the first quarter. In this time span, the Quakers lept out to an eight-point lead. Sophomore guard Simone Sawyer put on a defensive masterclass, recording multiple steals and layups off of those breakaways. But the tides quickly shifted when Chen found her rhythm.
Freshman guard Mataya Gayle evades Princeton's Kaitlyn Chen during the Ivy Madness tournament on Mar. 15.
Chen — who finished the game with 18 points — led a nine-point run for the Tigers that lasted from the end of the first quarter through the start of the second quarter to tie the game up and give Princeton the lead. And while she wasn’t given that many open looks, when she got them, she made them count. The attention Chen drew from Penn opened things up for guard Madison St. Rose and forward Ellie Mitchell to dominate.
The constant double teams surrounding Chen enabled former Ivy League Rookie of the Year St. Rose to finish the game with a team-leading 19 points, and Mitchell to become Princeton’s all-time leading rebounder as she recorded 12 on the night.
“It was really special,” Mitchell said. “I mean, obviously, the bigger thing is that we got the win. But there have been a lot of greats that came before me. So it's really cool to [now] have my name come up in that conversation.”
Heading into the locker room at the break, Penn held onto a slim two-point lead, but that quickly vanished as the second half got underway.
With the Tigers up by eight points deep into the fourth quarter, the Princeton faithful got to their feet cheering, assuming that the game was out of Penn’s reach — especially as Almqvist recorded her fifth foul of the game, ending the standout junior’s season prematurely. Last week, the fourth-quarter onslaught was too much for the Red and Blue to handle. However, this time, the Quakers showed no quit, and with her time with the Red and Blue drawing to a close, Obi led the charge for the comeback attempt.
Freshman guard Mataya Gayle attempts a layup against Princeton during the Ivy Madness tournament on Mar. 15.
“We've been working really hard in practice on closing the gap,” Gayle said. “And I feel like we executed to the best of our ability … Everyone was hustling for loose balls and I thought our execution was a lot better.”
After scoring a jumper, Obi drew the foul from St. Rose and proceeded to sink a three-pointer on the next possession. The five-point swing gave the team the spark it needed to give itself a chance with its back against the wall. A crucial steal recorded by Sawyer with 19 seconds left in the game — with the team down just three points — set the Quakers up with the opportunity to send the game into overtime.
Unsurprisingly, Obi found herself with the ball in her hands. With her season and potentially her collegiate career on the line, Obi drove to the basket and made the layup despite the defender making contact. The Red and Blue faithful went wild as the potential game-tying play transpired, but those cheers quickly turned to gasps of disbelief as the referee signaled for a charge. The call officially put the nail in the coffin for the Red and Blue’s season.
“I thought it was a great college basketball game,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “With that said, I'm a pretty transparent person. That was a block at the end … I’m professional, but I also have to fight for my players. That’s a block and I think that if anyone saw it and rewatched the video again, they’ll say the same thing.”
With the team’s season now over, Penn women’s basketball will be looking to regroup and rebuild. The team will miss the presence of Obi and Toonders — two very consistent starters — sorely, but McLaughlin is more than optimistic about the players who will be returning.
Penn women's basketball comes together in a game against Princeton during the Ivy Madness tournament on Mar. 15.
The Quakers will be returning Almqvist, who led the team in scoring this season with 15.3 points per game, as well as Gayle, who will be looking to build on her impressive rookie season. Joining them will be freshman guard Ese Ogbevire, who nabbed a few Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors this past season, and Sawyer who showed today that she can be a force on the defensive side of the ball.
“When you really think about it, we've lost a lot of people that played a lot last year,” Almqvist said. “We have a great group next year, so I'm super excited. I think there's really something to build on here.”
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