New year, same old Ancient Eight.
This Saturday, Penn women’s basketball (10-4, 0-1 Ivy) opened Ivy League play with a defeat at the hands of national No. 25 Princeton (13-1, 1-0).
Princeton entered the match on a 10-game winning streak, and a top-scoring offense in the Ivy League, while Penn stood its ground with a national top-30 defense.
Three of Penn’s starters — sophomore forward Katie Collins, junior center Tina Njike, and junior guard Mataya Gayle — each put up over 10 points in the Quakers’ offensive effort. Gayle also led the Quakers with seven rebounds and six assists.
Although Penn was handed its 15th-straight defeat by the Tigers, the Quakers put up an unforgettable fight.
The Tigers opened up the game with a bucket from guard Madison St. Rose, who entered the match with the second highest scoring average in the Ivy League at 17.1 points per game. St. Rose achieved her 1,000th career point during the first quarter, where the Tigers outscored the Quakers at 25-12.
Even with the Quakers’ 6-0 run at the top of the first quarter, Princeton quickly reclaimed the lead after a three from guard Skye Belker. Two quick fouls against Gayle in this quarter foreshadowed Princeton’s late-game reliance on the free-throw line, forcing strong players off the court.
The Quakers ended the first quarter with a four-minute field goal drought.
“We just hung in there,” coach Mike McLaughlin said when asked about the team’s turnaround in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. “It’s a long game, you know, we got it to halftime. We got it within a couple possessions and eight points.”
The Quakers entered the second half rejuvenated by a 18-13 second quarter.
Back-and-forth buckets defined the pace until Gayle and Njike took off, making a series of threes and driving layups while maintaining an impenetrable defensive line. Similar to the Quakers at the bottom of the first quarter, the Tigers failed to score any free throws during the final four minutes, earning all their points from the free-throw line. Despite the drought, Princeton managed to outscore Penn 17-16 in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter opened with a vengeance that saw senior guard Saniah Caldwell notch a corner three-pointer for her first points of the game. Caldwell’s critical triple began a 9-0 Quaker scoring run as Princeton went scoreless for three-straight possessions. Despite Princeton’s multiple trips to the free-throw line, Njike and Gayle scored a pair of threes to reclaim the lead.
Led by a turnover, a critical three-pointer from Princeton forward Taylor Charles helped the Tigers reclaim the lead, igniting an uncontested 8-0 run over a minute and a half and a momentum in their favor.
Overall, Princeton’s physicality and given free-throw attempts made a difference.
The first quarter saw Gayle substituted after two quick fouls against Princeton, followed by a double foul by Collins during the third quarter. The Quakers forced five fouls in the last minute of play, widening the lead to multiple possessions after Princeton made five trips to the free-throw line.
Over the course of the game, Princeton went to the free-throw line fourteen times, notching 20 of their 74 points from free throws. In comparison, Penn earned only 7 of their 68 points from free throws.
“[Princeton’s] physicality and movement makes you want to chase them a little bit. And they did a good job getting under us a few times they got fouled,” coach McLaughlin said. “[I] would like to see more attempts at the foul line, but we’ll have to get a little better there.”
Penn comes face-to-face with fellow 2024-25 Ivy League fourth place-finisher Brown for their next contest on Jan. 10 in Providence, R.I.
