The Ivy League tournament is slowly slipping out of Penn’s fingers.
After a surprising upset earlier in the season, normal order was restored as the Lions sent the Quakers home in a 69-56 defeat. The game was all but decided soon after it began, with Columbia (17-6, 8-2 Ivy) opening up an early lead that Penn (14-9, 4-6 Ivy) was unable to overcome despite its second-half efforts. Sophomore forward Katie Collins had a strong offensive showing, scoring 22 points — 15 from three-pointers.
The Saturday loss was the second game of a New York road trip for the Quakers. Friday night, Penn was Cornell’s guest in a close game that went into overtime. The Quakers overcame the Big Red in the first overtime period, ultimately winning 72-66. Junior guard Mataya Gayle contributed 23 points on Friday, scoring her 1000th career point for the Red and Blue.
“Last night, both teams played well, back and forth. Cornell made plays to get back in it. We made some plays to win it,” coach Mike McLaughlin said.
“I didn't even know she got a thousand until the interview after the game, but I think it's a great celebration,” McLaughlin said about Gayle’s performance on Friday. “A significant achievement, hard to do and [I’m] proud of her.”
On Saturday, the previous day’s game took its toll, with the Quakers unable to match an early-game push by Columbia. Here’s how it went down in the Big Apple.
A second-quarter unraveling, once again
All things come in threes, as it seems.
After two weak second-quarter performances at Drexel and against Harvard earlier this season, Saturday’s game bore a similar sight. While the second quarter this time around didn’t quite match the previous two in lack of points scored — two at Drexel, zero against Harvard — it still put the Lions at a distance that was impossible to catch up.
The Quakers didn’t manage to score for almost ten minutes across the first two quarters, starting around the three-minute mark of the first. In those ten minutes, Columbia extended its lead from three to 20 points before Penn started to fight back, with junior guard Abby Sharpe coming off the bench for two made field goals in quick succession.
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The story of the first half can be told with two stats: offensive rebounds and steals. In both of these categories, the Lions managed nine compared to the Quakers’ two. On Penn’s offensive actions, Columbia was always in the right place at the right time, applying pressure strategically to grab easy steals. On the other side of the court, the same pressure made every rebound a battle, which gave the Lions frequent second chances.
“I think it was more their defense. We did miss some shots that we actually have to make, we’re still not a team that gets to the foul line enough to break runs. These are things that kind of put you in that spot,” McLaughlin said. “Trying to score so bad, sometimes it makes it worse, because they needed a basket to get over the hump.”
While Collins’ three-pointer on the last possession increased Penn’s point total in the quarter to eight, the score at the half still read 30-15.
Offense? Inconsistent
On the offensive side of the court, Penn’s individual performances could only be described as a roller coaster.
After Gayle achieved her career milestone of one thousand points at Cornell on Friday, much of the Quakers’ early offense against the Lions went through her. Saturday was not her night, as she only converted two of her 15 field goal attempts. As a ball handler, she is unmissable for Penn, but also exemplified the team’s first-half offensive struggle.
On the other hand, Collins showed out, posting unbelievable shooting splits. Overall, she shot seven out of her 12 field goal attempts, and 71% from the three-point line.
“I feel like in the second half, we were really pushing the ball in transition a lot, and Mataya [Gayle] was specifically able to find me in good spots,” Collins said. “So we just pushed the ball out, and then I was open on the three, and I was able to knock it down.”
“She made some really difficult threes. We were struggling, back to back threes gave us some life, and some put a little game pressure on Columbia there, which is the best we could do at that point,” McLaughlin said on Collins’ performance.
Another notable performance came from Sharpe, who came off the bench but played for a total of 19 minutes. She scored ten points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, and converted both of her three-point attempts.
The Quakers are at home next weekend to face Yale at the Palestra on Saturday.
