The 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament opens on Sunday, March, 21, in San Antonio. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all games will be played in the Lone Star State. The Ivy League has opted out of winter sports so no conference teams will be featured.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the women’s basketball team’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
In this edition of By the Numbers, Penn Today takes a look at the history of Penn in the Big Dance.
- 5
Number of times the women’s basketball team has appeared in the NCAA Tournament: 2001, 2004, 2014, 2016, and 2017. (The Women’s NCAA Tournament did not begin until 1982.)
- 3/16/2001
Date of Penn’s first NCAA Tournament game. Fresh off their first Ivy League championship and riding a 21-game winning streak, the 15th-seeded Quakers took on No. 2 seed Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, in the First Round of the Mideast Regional. Jennifer Jones led the Red & Blue with 19 points.
- 15
Penn’s seed in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Quakers battled No. 2 seed UConn, led by senior Diana Taurasi, in the First Round of the East Regional in Storrs, Connecticut. Forward Jewel Clark led the Red & Blue with 16 points.
- 25
Number of points guard Alyssa Baron scored in Penn’s First Round contest against No. 5 seed Texas in 2014 in College Park, Maryland. The Quakers, a No. 12 seed, were up 32-17 late in the first half and ahead 38-31 at half, but the Longhorns came back. Freshman Sydney Stipanovich, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, was called for several ticky-tack fouls, and her absence hurt the Quakers near the basket.
- 53
Number of points 10th-seeded Penn scored in the First Round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament against the Kelsey Plum-led Washington Huskies in College Park, Maryland. The Quakers led 25-24 at half, but Plum, who would later become the leading scorer in NCAA history, led a fourth quarter run that pulled the Huskies ahead. Stipanovich led the Quakers with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
- THIS close
How close No. 12 seed Penn came to upsetting No. 5 seed Texas A&M in the First Round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles. The Quakers were up by 21 points in the fourth quarter before the Aggies came storming back and stole a 63-61 win. Stipanovich led Penn with 20 points.
