What a night for Penn women’s basketball.
The game had everything a basketball fan dreams of: a back-and-forth showdown with 12 lead changes, supported by a fired-up bench and an electrified crowd. It was everything the team dreamed of Saturday night: beating first-seeded Columbia 64-55.
Coming into the game, Penn women’s basketball (12-7, 2-4 Ivy) was considered a heavy underdog against Columbia (14-5, 5-1). The Lions entered the Palestra coming off an upset victory over Ivy League preseason favorite Princeton while maintaining a perfect away record. The Quakers, on the other hand, suffered a tough loss from Cornell (8-12, 3-4) the night before — their first loss to the Big Red since 2017.
“We can’t get into records,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “We have to win. We have to win a game to get another game. And it was that simple.”
Opposing defensive strategies
While Penn showed zone and prioritized its defense in the paint in the first half, Columbia’s full-court press immediately challenged junior guard Mataya Gayle. Penn clamped the Lions defensively, led by junior center Tina Njike in the paint, who swatted away passes and hustled to close out on the threes. Offensively, both Penn and Columbia failed to get much momentum, their three-point percentages being 14.3% and 17.6%, respectively. The first half closed with a 25-25 tie.
Offensive shootout
The battle of the defenses turned into an offensive shootout during the second half.
A few minutes in, Njike drew a double team and swung the ball to wide-open senior guard Simone Sawyer, who swished the three. A few possessions later, Sawyer got the ball again and splashed another one as the bench erupted. Columbia guard Riley Weiss was an absolute momentum-killer for Penn. In the second half, Weiss took over the game for Columbia. When Njike extended Penn’s lead to four points, Weiss fired off a quick three to make it a one-point game.
Despite Weiss’s flurry in the second half, Penn’s offense thrived. In the fourth quarter, Gayle got the pick-and-roll going with Njike and dominated in the paint, scoring ten points in the box compared to Columbia’s two. Gayle and Weiss also faced off in the final quarter, as the two went back and forth at each other to finish off the quarter with 8 and 11 points each.
In the end, Penn exited with an upset victory, taking down the Lions 64-55. Despite the odds against a top team in the Ivy League, the Quakers covered the floor and hustled to make plays happen.
“We just wanted it,” Gayle said. “We know they’re a good team, but we put in our heads like today we’re gonna be the better team.”
Although the Quakers enjoyed a nice stretch of home games, Penn women’s basketball will be back on the road next weekend to face Princeton on Feb. 6.
