ITHACA, N.Y. — Despite a late fourth quarter surge from Cornell bringing the score as close as within two with a minute left of play, Penn was able to maintain a lead throughout the game and take a 57-51 victory over the Big Red. With this loss, Cornell drops to 4-12 overall and 0-3 in Ivy League play. The Quakers move to 10-6 overall and move to 1-2 in Ivy League play as they earn their first Ivy win in this contest.
Paige Engels had one of her best statistical performances in this game notching a career-high 14-points which led Cornell in scoring and a career-high seven assists which led the Big Red in that category. Emily Pape and Rachel Kaus also landed in the double digits in points against Penn with 12 each and Clarke Jackson tallied seven. On the Quaker's side, Mataya Gayle and Stina Almqvist were tied in points, leading the team with 17 each.
In the game, the boards were even at 34 apiece. The Big Red were more successful on offensive boards notching 12 to 
Penn's nine, but the Quakers saw more success on defensive rebounds recording 25 to Cornell's 22. Pape was the Cornell leader in rebounds with eight, Kaus and Vivienne Knee followed closely behind with five each. For Penn, Katie Collins and Almqvist led with ten each.
Cornell out assisted Penn 15-12, but Penn found success off of the dribble throughout the game to counteract that in points. In addition to Engel's seven, Clarke Jackson notched four assists, Kelsey Langston had two and Rachel Kaus recorded one. On the Quakers end, Simone Sawyer led with four.
The Quakers were aggressive defensively at the rim recording five blocked shots to the Big Red's zero. Collins led Penn in that feat with two and Gayle, Saniah Caldwell and Brooke Suttle all had one.
Both teams were playing aggressive defense on the floor which resulted in a total of 23 personal fouls and 10 turnovers per program. Despite the turnovers being equal, Penn recorded seven steals to Cornell's three. For the Big Red, Jackson led with two and Pape notched one. Gayle led the Quakers in steals with three.
The game started off with Penn going on a seven-point run right off the bat. Cornell was able to string together a lieu of three-pointers from Azareya Kilgoe, Langston and Pape alongside a layup from Rachel Kaus to then outscore the Quakers 6-10 in the remainder of the first quarter to close the gap to three going into the second. The Big Red came out of the gate in the second quarter swinging with Pape draining a three to even the game just fifteen seconds in. Penn answered back by out-scoring Cornell 16 to 8 to close out the second quarter up 29-21. The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle where Cornell out-scored Penn 16 to 14 to cut the Quakers' lead to six heading into the final quarter of play. The fourth quarter began with trading baskets for the first three minutes until Penn hit a stride and went on a six-point run going up 53-43 with five minutes left to play. Cornell answered with an eight-point run of its own that began with an Engels layup-and-one to bring the score within two points. The Big Red then began to foul the Quakers with forty seconds left which resulted in Penn making four free-throws to end the game with a 57-51 victory.
UP NEXT
The Big Red will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Providence, RI to take on Brown as it is still in search of its first Ivy League victory. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
