For the second time in four games, the women’s and men’s basketball teams battled Ivy League adversary Harvard over the weekend. Both teams were triumphant.
The women’s basketball team won 70-64 on Saturday at the Palestra, avenging their 84-60 loss to the Crimson on Jan. 28. Fourth-year guard Kayla Padilla played all 40 minutes and had a game-high 27 points. She also had eight assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
Harvard led 18-15 after the first quarter. With 6:58 left in the second quarter, the Quakers trailed 22-20, before Padilla scored nine straight points—three jumpers and a three-pointer—to put Penn up 29-22. The Quakers were ahead 34-25 at halftime.
First-year guard Simone Sawyer swished back-to-back three pointers to open the second half, which gave the Red & Blue a 40-25 advantage. Penn maintained a double-digit lead for almost the entire period and entered the final frame up 54-43.
The Crimson made it interesting with a 13-2 run, which cut Penn’s lead to 68-64 with 20 seconds left in the game. The Quakers stayed composed and picked up the win.
Sawyer had 15 points, all on three pointers. She shot 5-12 from behind the arc. Third-year forward Jordan Obi had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Quakers are 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the Ivy League with four games remaining in the regular season. They currently sit third in the conference standings.
The men’s basketball team swept Harvard for the second consecutive season, upending the Crimson 80-72 on Saturday in Massachusetts, their fifth straight win.
Aside from Harvard’s 1-0 lead in the first 40 seconds, the Red & Blue led for the entire game. They were up by as much as 13 in the first half and entered intermission ahead 41-31. Third-year guard Jordan Dingle scored 18 points in the first stanza, shooting 5-9 from the field.
An 8-3 run by Harvard cut Penn’s lead to 48-43 at the 15:03 mark in the second half, but the Quakers answered with a three-pointer from third-year forward Max Martz and a layup from second-year guard George Smith to give themselves a 10-push cushion. The Crimson held the Red & Blue without a bucket for more than five minutes and got within three, 62-59, with 3:37 left in the game, but Martz, Smith, Dingle, fourth-year guard Lucas Monroe, and third-year guard Clark Slajchert made their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Dingle finished with a game-high 25 points. Second-year forward Nick Spinoso had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Martz and Smith each scored 12.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Penn is 14-11 overall and 6-4 in the Ivy League. They are currently in fourth place in the conference.
