Penn women drop Ivy League tournament semifinal matchup with Columbia, 60-54

PROVIDENCE, R.I. ― In the regular season, Penn lost to Columbia twice by an average of 20 points.

But on Friday, despite a third loss to the Lions, in the Ivy League tournament, the Quakers looked like they belonged. The 60-54 loss was their closest against any of the Ivy League’s top three teams — Columbia, Princeton, and Harvard — and their only loss by single digits.

“This game was definitely our hardest-fought game,” freshman Katie Collins said. “We prepared really well, and we played really hard. Obviously, we wish some of our shots in the first half fell, and we’d like to get that back, but I just learned that we can play with all these teams, and we’re just as good as all of these teams. You need to stay prepared throughout the whole year to be ready for these kind of games.”

The first quarter went about as poorly as it could for Penn on the offensive end — until the last second.

The Quakers started 1-for-11 from the floor, their lone make coming on a Simone Sawyer three-pointer.

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The bright spot? Columbia wasn’t shooting much better. The Lions built an 11-3 lead thanks to four Penn shooting fouls, but the tournament’s top seed had made just two baskets.

Then, after forcing a turnover on the defensive end, Mataya Gayle hit Penn’s second shot of the game, a three-point buzzer-beater, and the burst the Quakers’ offense needed to start clicking.

Senior Stina Almqvist sank two three-pointers, leading Penn with six points in the first half. Almqvist ended her Penn career leading the Quakers with 17 points, including two three-pointers. The Quakers shot 40% from the field in the second quarter, even with Ivy rookie of the year Katie Collins going 0-for-6 and ending the half scoreless.

“I don’t even think I scored in the first quarter, but I know that my teammates [were] getting open,” Almqvist said. “I want them to shoot, stay confident, because they’re going to hit them eventually. I may have had some more threes falling, but I think overall, I was just trying to rely on, it’s going to open up at some point. I’m not trying to force anything. It opened up with those two threes, and then I tried to start attacking more.”

But Penn couldn’t get out of its own way on the defensive end. The Quakers sent the Lions to the free throw line with eight shooting fouls in the first half, and Columbia went 10-for-15 — while Penn didn’t shoot a single free throw. With a 27-21 deficit at halftime, those 10 points loomed large for Penn, looking to pull off a massive upset of an NCAA at-large contender.

In the third quarter, the Quakers’ fortunes turned for the worse.

Coach Mike McLaughlin emphasized Penn’s hustle plays all year, and Collins, started to do what she does best, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. But while Columbia shot 77.8% in the quarter, Penn’s shooting regressed after a stronger second quarter, going 4-for-13 from the field.

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Columbia made its first six shots of the quarter and built a 42-25 lead. The Lions didn’t miss their first shot until over six minutes had passed — and after that missed shot, Columbia forward Susie Rafiu secured her own offensive rebound, attempted the shot again, and was fouled. She went 1-for-2 from the line. Rafiu led the Lions with 16 points in the win.

But in the fourth quarter, the Quakers battled back, once again sparked by Gayle, who scored eight points to help tighten the deficit, and Collins hit her first three-pointer of the day with 10 seconds left to pull the Quakers within four.

Columbia guard Mia Broom made the two most important ones down the stretch to seal the win.

“When you see the level of play that they have to get to, it only can help athletes get there,” McLaughlin said. “I’m confident that a couple years from now, we’ll be talking about one of these [underclassmen] is the Stina that turned her career projection around. Having these younger players like Katie see what this looks like, see what the physicality looks like, I think you’ll see a response from them.”

Penn ends the season at 15-13, including a 6-8 record in the Ivy League.