In a game it had to win, the Penn’s women’s basketball team missed shot after shot, giving up a lead and then just keeping even with lowly Yale.
And then the third quarter ended and the fun started at the Palestra, as the Quakers blew past the Bulldogs with 27 fourth-quarter points to take the win, 71-59, Friday night. That sets up a Saturday afternoon showdown with Brown as a key game for Penn to stay relevant in the run for the Ivy League Tournament.
Sophomore point guard Mataya Gayle, last year’s Ivy Rookie of the Year, has sometimes struggled this season, and Penn has struggled with her. On Friday, though, she put together a great game on both sides of the ball, with a game-high 26 points – double her average this season – on 8-for-19 shooting, including 3-for-4 on threes, plus half a dozen assists. Her three steals represent only a portion of the disruption she caused on defense, contributing to Penn’s 22 points off turnovers.
The other Penn standout against Yale is Gayle’s almost certain successor as Ivy Rookie of the Year, forward Katie Collins. She was already the league’s most prolific shot blocker; she added five more to her total. The only woman in the Ivies who’s topped that in a game this year is … Katie Collins. She also scored 21 points (on 10-for-14 shooting) and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Senior Stina Almqvist also hit double figures but still struggled a bit: Half of her 16 points came from the foul line, and she made a pedestrian four of 11 from the floor.
Yale kept things close for three quarters thanks to two players: Mackenzie Egger and Grace Thybulle. It’s been, let’s face it, a dismal season for Yale (2-20, 1-8 Ivy), but Egger and Thybulle keep showing up and challenging deeper teams. The pair accounted for most of the Bulldogs’ points and most of their rebounds:Egger had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Thybulle had a near-double-double of 11 points and nine boards.
And for a while, those two and their supporting cast were looking at an upset. Penn cruised to a 16-9 lead after one quarter, but Yale reversed the script by shooting 48% in the second quarter (to Penn’s meager 24%) to go into halftime tied at 27. The third quarter was excellent back-and-forth basketball, with both teams shooting well; all told for the game, the score was tied seven times, and the lead changed 10 times.Yale squeaked ahead with a two-point lead going into the fourth.
A Gayle layup off an assist by Almqvist in the opening seconds of the quarter tied things up. Then Almqvist hit a jumper in the paint to give Penn a lead it never relinquished. A Thybulle jumper pulled Yale within one, but Penn started an 11-point run that put the game out of reach.
Penn shot 70% in that quarter and 41% for the evening, including 40% from three. That proved unbeatable for Yale, which faces another big challenge Saturday at Princeton.
