Penn women’s basketball started their winter break off right, besting Washington State 67-62 in a Friday matchup at the Palestra.
With an early tipoff at 11 a.m., the Quakers (8-3) had three players — sophomore forward Katie Collins, junior guard Mataya Gayle, and senior guard Simone Sawyer— leading the offensive charge with more than 10 points each. It was Penn’s first-ever matchup with the Cougars (1-12), who put up a fight in their last non-conference matchup.
“I thought we played really well. We had moments on both sides of the ball that we were really, really good,” coach Mike McLaughlin said after the game.
Here are three takeaways from the Quakers’ final home game of 2025.
The Quakers crash the offensive boards
Many of Penn’s points came from second-chance opportunities, which proved to be the key difference in this game to counter the Cougars’ higher shooting efficiency. In the first half, 11 of the Quakers’ 34 points were scored on second chances, and they grabbed eight offensive rebounds.
Junior center Tina Njike led the team with nine rebounds, right ahead of Collins, who notched eight. Both players showed great hustle in getting to the board and contributed greatly to Penn’s 19 total second-chance points.
“We were struggling a couple times to score, and Tina’s offensive ability to rebound and put it back [up helped us]. Katie dug down, you know, a couple loose balls on the offensive glass,” McLaughlin said. “The extra possessions really matter.”
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An even scoring spread for Penn
Five out of eight players who scored for the Quakers put up more than five points, with the trio of Collins, Gayle, and senior guard Simone Sawyer scoring 15, 14, and 15 points, respectively. As the Quakers settle into the season, they are beginning to show a clear offensive identity, with every player comfortable stepping up.
“I think role identification in sports is always challenging, right?” McLaughlin said. “Some of the girls we have, when they’re in their role, and they compete and do it consistently over and over, it just extends our depth.”
The deciding field goals mainly came in one of two ways. Guards like Gayle or sophomore guard Brooke Suttle exploited the Cougars’ lack of defense by driving past their defender for countless open-look layups. Other times, a player drove under the basket, and kicked the ball out to a teammate for a wide-open three-pointer. The chemistry in the Quakers’ different rotations kicked in just in time for league play.
Patience proves essential in a close game
Basketball is a game of runs, and it showed today. Up until the end of the third quarter, the two teams were in a close battle. While Penn held most of the lead, the two teams continuously traded runs. The Cougars went on a game-high 10-0 run in the first quarter, responding efficiently from the three-point line.
But Washington State’s surge did not deter the Quakers, who remained patient until the third quarter when they started to put more defensive pressure on the Cougars. A layup by Collins, assisted by Tambe, capped off a run that put Penn up by nine points. The run was enough for the Quakers, as they maintained the lead of five points or more until the end of the game. Tambe also scored the final points for Penn, which, to the delight of a group of children in attendance, put the final score at 67.
“There were a lot of kids there … I think 600 kids, and [Tambe] made a big hustle play. You could feel the difference,” McLaughlin said.
After a brief holiday break, the Red and Blue will travel to the FDU Christmas Classic in Hackensack, N.J., where they face Maryland-Eastern Shore in the first of two games.
