It’s back to the lab for Penn after falling short in Ivy home opener to Columbia
The loss is just their second in the last eight games for the Quakers, who opened conference play against the Lions on Saturday.
Last year, the Penn women’s basketball team was trounced by Columbia in both of their matchups.
Although the Quakers have gotten off to a promising start this season, their first Ivy League matchup proved more of the same Saturday as they fell to the Lions, 74-59, at the Palestra.
Penn (9-5, 0-1) was slow to start and slow to finish. In the first and fourth quarters, the Quakers were outscored by a total of 19 points. As Penn went on long droughts, Columbia (10-4, 1-0) capitalized behind junior guard Perri Page’s team-high 17 points, nine rebounds, and three steals off the bench.
» READ MORE: Four storylines as Penn tips off Ivy League play
Meanwhile, Penn senior forward Stina Almqvist, who went into the game averaging 19.1 points, was held to nine. It ended her streak of double-digit scoring at 20 games, dating back to last season.
Next up, the Quakers will host Dartmouth (7-7, 1-0) next Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
“It’s not going to always come your way,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said of Almqvist’s performance. “You have to be able to get through some of that and be really good in other areas. … She’s going to be struggling again. I’d like to see her, next time, do the other things a little bit stronger. You don’t only have to impact this game by putting the ball in the basket.”
In Almqvist’s absence, junior guard Simone Sawyer led the Quakers with a season-high 14 points and grabbed six boards.
“We have a lot of young players on our team, so our team’s been working on the importance of protecting the Palestra,” Sawyer said. “The good thing about the Ivy League is you play every team twice, so you can go back and beat them at their own court.”
Quakers heat up after a cold start
As flurries fell outside the Palestra, the Quakers started off cold.
They missed their first nine attempts from the floor. Penn’s scoring drought ended halfway through the first quarter after Almqvist found a streaking Saniah Caldwell.
Columbia had built a 15-point lead through eight minutes. Then, the Quakers found their shot. Two Penn threes at the end of the quarter and an Almqvist layup cut Columbia’s lead to nine heading into the second quarter.
» READ MORE: Follow the Inquirer's full coverage of Penn athletics right here!
From there, Penn capitalized on its momentum on the defensive side of the ball. In the second quarter, the Quakers held the Lions to 2-for-13 from the field.
“Our first quarter was a really nice start,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “There’s no secret [that] our second quarter, I think we got a little casual, a little relaxed. And Penn is a very capable scoring offensive team.”
Reigning Ivy League and Big 5 Rookie of the Year Mataya Gayle put the exclamation point on the second quarter for Penn. With 1:32 left, she took a Columbia turnover the length of the court for an easy layup. Two possessions later, she drilled a wide-open three-pointer to take a one-point lead into the locker room – Penn’s first lead of the day.
Lions roar back
The third period saw the Lions return to form behind the shooting of Page. The junior guard scored seven of her 17 points in the third, putting Columbia back into the driver’s seat. Half of Columbia’s third-quarter shots fell as the Lions took a 49-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I think we could have done a better job of communicating, especially against a fast-paced team and their transition,” said Sawyer. “We work a lot on that in practice, and moving forward we will too, but I think we could have done a better job.”
This lead would only grow in the fourth quarter as Penn’s leading scorers on the season disappeared. Almqvist and Gayle scored a combined three points in the fourth. On the day, Gayle turned the ball over five times.
“Mataya was a little hesitant at times on the offensive side,” McLaughlin said. “They were playing this very soft 1-2-2 [defense], and I just didn’t think she was assertive enough that we lost our rhythm a little bit.”
Rookie guard Sarah Miller also struggled in her Ivy debut. Miller, Penn’s best three-point shooter, shot just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc and finished with three points and three rebounds in 16 minutes.