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Penn’s women’s basketball falls to Princeton

Penn struggled to contain Princeton's inside attack, losing to the Tigers for the second time in as many months.

The Penn bench erupts in celebration in the third quarter of their game against Princeton at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Princeton won the game, 68-53.
The Penn bench erupts in celebration in the third quarter of their game against Princeton at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Princeton won the game, 68-53.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

Penn and Princeton’s regular-season rematch was decided in the post.

Tigers’ forward Bella Alarie got the upper hand, and lifted Princeton to 68-53 victory over the Quakers.

“She presented a challenge on both ends of the floor,” said Quakers head coach Mike McLaughlin after the loss. “She scored too many baskets where it was just her and the rim. She’s too good. You’ve got to make her work and have players crowd her a little bit more and we didn’t do that enough.”

In last month’s meeting, Penn pulled away late, outscoring the Tigers, 27-16. Alarie had 21 points and 17 rebounds to Eleah Parker’s 14 points, 7 rebounds, and two blocks in that game.

Since Alarie returned from a shoulder injury in December, she has been one of the most talked about players in the Ivy league, and for good reason. Earlier this month, she scored 45 points against conference rival Columbia.

Penn got off to a rocky start, going down, 10-4. Midway through the first quarter, they began to gain their footing knocking the tigers lead to three, 15-12, to enter the second quarter.

While Penn shot the ball better than Princeton early in the game, they struggled with ball security. Early in the second quarter, Penn had four turnovers to Princeton’s one. But Penn made a comeback to close out the half, going into the third quarter down two.

To start the second half, Alarie ran through Penn’s struggling front court duo of Parker and Princess Aghayere to score Princeton’s first six points. The game changed after that. Penn hit a scoring drought midway through the third quarter and couldn’t recover.

The Quakers had no response to Princeton’s growing momentum, giving up a 16-7 run to end the game.

Alarie finished the game with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Penn’s Aghayere had 12 points, and 5 rebounds and Penn’s junior guard Kendall Grasela scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

“I thought Kendall was really aggressive. She was aggressive to score,” said McLaughlin. " I was really proud of her and how she came out of the gate. We needed that. She showed that she could do it. I thought that she was the bright light tonight."

Earlier this week Aghayere received Big Five player of the week for the performance she posted against Columbia, 19 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block.

Penn plays Harvard Friday at The Palestra.