Penn women's basketball held on for a 55-50 win against Norfolk State on Tuesday night in a game that came down to the last minute of play. Penn (4-1) set itself apart at the charity stripe, netting 15 out of 16 free throws. Two of those came in the final seconds of play, finally putting them out of reach of the Spartans (2-4). For the Quakers, junior center Tina Njike led the charge of four players who scored nine or more points.
Despite the win, the Quakers struggled with rebounding throughout the evening, giving up 17 points to their opponents on second chances.
“[You have to] give them credit, they had 21 offensive rebounds,” coach Mike McLaughlin said, “I'm glad we got out of here [and] we had more points than them, because they could have got us very easily here tonight.”
From the beginning, the score was tight. Sophomore forward Katie Collins recorded the first points, but Norfolk State immediately answered.
Njike scored Penn’s first three-pointer, as well as notching several key free throws. Despite her relatively new role as a starter, Njike played a key role in the Quakers’ victory. This matchup marked her third game this season scoring over ten points. She played for over three quarters of the game, racking up six rebounds and going 5-for-5 on free throws.
“My teammates, they've been trusting me to be able to finish it inside,” Njike said, “Trying to have a rebounding first mindset has really helped this year.”
Despite fairly low shooting percentages for both teams, the Quakers netted a series of three-pointers and free throws. The Spartans responded with more second-chance points, bringing the score to 16-15 Penn as the first quarter ended.
The second quarter was more of the same as the first: a tightly contested — albeit low-scoring — matchup, highlighted by a wide-open three-pointer by senior guard Simone Sawyer.
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Sawyer continued where she had left off at Hofstra on Saturday. With 11 points and eight rebounds, Sawyer came close to her first career double-double and made some critical shots for the Quakers.
“Shout out again to Simone Sawyer, these last two games have been the best I've seen her play. Her effort — she's all over the floor, rebounding the ball,” McLaughlin said, “This is what you expect from a senior who has played a lot of the minutes here at Penn, so I'm just super proud of her.”
“My teammates have done a good job of just finding me the ball, and I'm just trying to bring others along with defensive intensity,” Sawyer added.
After the half, Penn hit the court running, with strong offensive ball movement putting them in a seven-point lead. This was the largest a lead would get on either side.
However, Norfolk State soon answered with a series of steals leading to wide-open layups, notably trapping Penn’s players in their own half two times in a row.
“I think we were a little unsettled on the offensive end. I think we made a couple layups, [the] ball went in the basket. They came back and took the lead, but then we responded, … and we responded well. So there was some good out there,” McLaughlin said.
The teams were once again tied coming into the fourth, and continued trading shots and blocks to keep the score within two possessions as the clock ticked down. In the end, it was a layup and a jumper by Gayle that allowed Penn to pull away. The Spartans came within three points of the Quakers, but gave away their last possession with an offensive foul.
The Quakers look to continue their win streak on Nov. 24, against St. Joe’s at the Palestra. It will be their second and final game in Big 5 pod play, and it will be a chance to redeem themselves after the loss suffered at Drexel last week.
