The University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team is set to face a significant challenge on Sunday as they travel to Austin to play the University of Texas, currently ranked fourth in the nation. The matchup at the Moody Center will be only the second meeting between the two programs; their first encounter took place during the 2014 NCAA Tournament, where Texas secured a 79-61 win.
Penn enters this game with a 5-2 record after defeating the University of St. Thomas 78-44 in Houston on Friday. Katie Collins led Penn with 18 points, making all six of her three-point attempts. Mataya Gayle contributed six assists and scored 14 points. Eight Quakers players made at least one three-pointer during that game.
Earlier in the week, Penn lost its first home game of the season against Saint Joseph’s, falling 74-53 at The Palestra. Simone Sawyer led Penn with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Tina Njike added ten points.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s contest, Texas comes into the matchup undefeated at 7-0 and has been strong on both ends of the court. Junior Madison Booker leads Texas in scoring with nearly 17 points per game, and six Longhorns are averaging double-digit points. The team ranks fourth nationally in scoring offense (98.3 points per game) and is among the top 25 for scoring defense (allowing just over 51 points per game). Senior guard Rori Harmon is averaging 6.6 assists per contest and holds one of the nation’s best assist-to-turnover ratios.
Penn was picked to finish fourth in this season’s Ivy League preseason poll by a panel of media members. Despite graduating key starters Stina Almqvist and Lizzy Groetsch, Penn returns three primary starters: Gayle, Sawyer, and Collins—each an Ivy League Rookie of the Year awardee over recent seasons.
Ese Ogbevire is expected to return for her sophomore season after missing last year due to injury; she was previously named Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice during her freshman campaign.
This year’s roster includes four freshmen: Ruke Ogbevire from Houston; Ari Paraskevopoulou from Athens, Greece; Kate Lipatova from Moscow; and Sarah Gordon from Alabama. Both Ogbevire and Gordon finished high school as their schools’ all-time leading scorers while Paraskevopoulou and Lipatova played for their national teams.
Head coach Mike McLaughlin has made adjustments to his staff following offseason changes—Ryan Weise joins as assistant coach after two years at Holy Cross, while Ashley Robinson was promoted to associate head coach following Kelly Killion’s departure for American University.
Penn will have five captains this season: seniors Saniah Caldwell, Simone Sawyer, Georgia Heine; junior Mataya Gayle; and sophomore Katie Collins—a program record matched only twice before.
Statistically under Coach McLaughlin’s tenure, Penn has performed well when reaching or holding opponents below certain point thresholds: they have won most games when scoring at least 60 points but struggled when allowing opponents above that mark or failing to reach it themselves.
