Penn beats Drexel on last-second thriller: ‘That’s what Big 5 basketball is all about’
Njike's shot propelled the Quakers to a 2-0 record as they look to establish a defense-first identity: "We want to be annoying," junior forward Katie Collins said.
After finishing 7-7 in Ivy League play last season, Penn women’s basketball decided it was time for a change.
Their efforts last year were “fluctuating a lot,” junior forward Katie Collins said. Through team meetings over the offseason, they got on the same page. Keep the effort consistent. Defense first.
“We want our identity to be that Penn is a hard team to play against,” Collins said. “Penn is united.
“We want to be annoying.”
Being annoying is less about scoring than it is keeping the other team from scoring. This season, Penn wants to outhustle, outrun, and outrebound its opponents.
The Quakers used that game plan in a thrilling 71-70 win over host Drexel on Friday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The teams had similar offensive strategies: cutting to the basket for quick, open layups and battling for points in the paint.
Penn’s shots weren’t always falling — it shot 17.6% from the three-point range and made 2-of-7 free throws — so it had to rely on its defense even more to keep Drexel (1-1), which shot 50% from the field, including 30% from deep, from gaining control.
In the final seconds of the game, Penn and Drexel traded baskets.
Drexel senior guard Laine McGurk, who scored a game-high 21 points, floated a jumper to put her team up, 70-69, with four seconds left.
But three seconds later, Penn senior center Tina Njike responded with a wobbly jumper to ice the game.
“We’ve been through that play a lot in practice … so I’m just glad that it went in,” Njike said.
Added Drexel coach Amy Mallon: “I guess you have to say that’s what Big 5 basketball’s about.”
Penn mixed coverages to keep Drexel swinging the ball on the perimeter and got physical when pressuring the ballhandler.
“We were kind of trying to break the rhythm,” Quakers coach Mike McLaughlin said.
That pressure translated to six steals. Defense turned to offense. Fourteen Drexel turnovers led to 17 Penn points.
“It doesn’t matter how good your defense is for the first 25 seconds if you don’t finish with a rebound,” said Collins, who had a game-high nine rebounds.
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All five starters contributed. Senior guard Mataya Gayle (10 points, five assists) and Collins led the offense in moving the ball and finding open Quakers. Junior guard Brooke Suttle added 13 points and was active on the glass. Freshman Rachel Thatcher had 14 points and seven rebounds in her second career start.
“She plays a lot older than she actually is,” Njike said, “What differs her from other players is that she plays hard every single possession.”
Njike was a force in the paint, boxing out and getting light touches en route to a team-high 19 points.
Now 2-0 following Friday’s win and a season-opening 110-27 rout of Swarthmore on Tuesday, Penn hits the road for a Sunday matinee against Norfolk State (2 p.m., MEAC Network)
