It was over for the Monarchs before it started.
Penn women’s basketball dominated Division III King’s College 105-31 in its season opener. In the offseason, the Quakers had crucial adjustments to make after finishing last season with the same record and heartbreaking fourth-place finish in Ivy Madness, as well as the loss of All-Ivy and team leading scorer Stina Almqvist and All-Ivy Lizzy Groetsch to graduation. On the court on Friday, the team showcased its new brand of play for 2025-26 season.
From the tipoff, the team’s chemistry appeared high from the beginning with back-to-back Ivy League Rookie of the Year junior guard Mataya Gayle and sophomore forward Katie Collins taking charge of the court and running the team’s offense.
“Our coaches have been emphasizing [chemistry] for us, and I think it showed today on the court, and it’s something that is a main priority for us because it translates on the court,” Collins said.
Throughout the first half, the Quakers maintained an aggressive pace that King’s College struggled to slow down. The team scored 22 points off turnovers and had seven successful fast breaks, one being a strong lay up off a fast break by Gayle during the second quarter.
Defensively, the Quakers also thrived — only giving up 12 points in the first half and notching 12 steals across the board, notably three from junior center Tina Njike.
“Going in [the game], our three focuses were our defensive intensity, rebounding and ball security, so I wanted to focus today on just, like, defending as hard as I could,” Gayle said about the team’s defense.
Coming out of the locker room, the offensive momentum continued. Collins put up the first points of the second half. Njike left off where she started on defense, notching a block soon after. Njike also showed up on the other side of the ball, putting up 12 points in Friday’s matinee. Meanwhile, Collins ended her day as Penn’s leading scorer with 18 points.
Overall, scoring was a team effort, with outside of Collins and Njike, two other Quakers ended the day with double-digit scoring — sophomore guard Sarah Miller and freshman guard Ruke Ogbevire in her collegiate debut.
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In addition to Miller, some of the team’s sophomores stepped up into new roles. Sophomore forward Gabriella Kelley, who only made 10 appearances off the bench last season, played significant minutes and was able to pick up crucial points at the low post. Similarly, sophomore guard Brooke Suttle made her first career start and was the only player to play the entire first quarter after a strong end to the 2024-25 season.
Notably, junior guard Ese Ogbevire, the older sister of Ruke Ogbevire made her return to the court. She averaged 4.7 points in her freshman year before missing all of last season due to injury.
“The growth of the Kelley, and Ese being back and [Njike] … I was just really proud of them.”
The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the Quakers expanded their lead over the Monarchs. Another new face in the box score for Penn on Friday was freshman guard Ari Paraskevopoulou, who nabbed five points in 10 minutes of play.
Penn will see the court next on Monday, traveling to Delaware State for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
