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PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team will look to add to its two-game winning streak this weekend as Cornell and Columbia come to town.
 
The Quakers enter the weekend after dismantling Yale, 64-37, on Saturday in New Haven. The 27 point victory was Penn’s largest over a Division 1 opponent this season.
 
GAME 19 – PENN (12-6, 2-3 Ivy League) vs. CORNELL (7-11, 2-3 Ivy League)
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 | 6 p.m.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program
 
GAME 20 – PENN vs. COLUMBIA (13-5, 4-1 Ivy League)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 | 5 p.m.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program
 
THE CORNELL SERIES
This will be the 92nd all-time meeting between the Quakers and Big Red. Penn has won 16 straight games against Cornell dating back to the 2015-16 season. That is the longest win streak against the Big Red in the two programs’ histories. With a win on Friday, Penn has an opportunity to take a 50-game lead in the series, currently up 70-21. The Quakers swept last year’s matchups with a 57-51 win in Ithaca and a 68-63 victory at the Palestra. Mataya Gayle totaled 37 points across the two meetings between the teams last season.
 
THE COLUMBIA SERIES
This will be the 78th all-time meeting between the Quakers and Lions. The Lions have won six straight games, with the Quakers last win coming in the 2022-23 season. In the last matchup between the teams, Penn fell to Columbia in the semifinals of the Ivy League tournament, 60-54, ultimately ending the Quakers season. The top seeded Lions went on to lose to Harvard in the championship game, 74-71. Penn will look to avenge the loss and add to a 31-7 record at home versus the Lions.
 
SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Cornell has struggled mightily on the offensive end this season, averaging the least amount of points in the Ivy League (54.4). Junior Rachel Kaus and senior Emily Pape are the only double figure scorers for the Big Red this season, each averaging just over 10 points. Pape stretches the floor with her three-point shooting, ranking in the top three in the Ivy in three-point percentage and field goals made. Despite Pape’s success from behind the arc this season, the team struggles to get stops as they have the lowest opponent field goal percentage average in the Ivy League (.428). One reason why opponents have taken advantage of Cornell is due to their lack of success on the boards. Cornell ranks at the bottom of the conference in team offensive and defensive rebounds this season. The Big Red have allowed the second most combined opponent rebounds in the conference, behind only Columbia. Last time out, Cornell lost the rebounding battle 35-27 and allowed 16 offensive rebounds to Harvard in the 84-38 loss.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Columbia is second in the Ivy League in points per game this season (72.3), behind only Princeton. The Lions shoot the ball at an extremely efficient clip and are led by leading scorer in the Ivy League, Riley Weiss (18.6). Weiss scored a program record 40 points in Columbia’s 89-32 win over Dartmouth on Saturday. Weiss has scored in double figures in every game but one so far this season, going above the 20-point mark seven times. Senior Perri Page is also elite on the offensive end, ranking sixth in the Ivy League in points (14.3). She leads the team in field goal percentage (.533) and also gets after opponents on the defensive end, leading the Ivy in steals per game (2.7). The Lions enter the game on a four game winning streak, scoring over 80 in two.
 
QUAKER NOTEMEAL VS YALE
*The 27-point victory was Penn’s largest over a Division 1 opponent this season.
 
*On his birthday, head coach Mike McLaughlin won his 269th game at Penn.
 
*Penn shot 42 percent from the field and held Yale to just 24-percent shooting.
 
*Penn outrebounded Yale, 40-37, and forced 26 Bulldogs turnovers in leading for nearly 36 minutes
on Saturday.
 
*Senior Simone Sawyer led all scorers with 18 points, shooting 7-11 from the field and 3-3 at the foul line where she leads the Ivy League in percentage (50-55, .909); the senior also had three steals.
 
*Junior Mataya Gayle (12) and sophomore Katie Collins (10) also scored in double figures for the Quakers, and Collins flirted with a double-double by grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
 
*Gayle also led all players with six assists, collected three steals, and grabbed four rebounds.
 
*Senior Saniah Caldwell hit a trio of treys (on four attempts) to finish with nine points on Saturday; she also led the team with four steals and added six rebounds and three assists.
 
*Sophomore Brooke Suttle again came off the bench to stuff the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
PENN IN THE IVY STATS
• Penn leads the Ivies and entered the week 18th nationally in free-throw percentage (.779).
 
• Katie Collins enters the weekend second among Ivy League players in overall rebounds per game and blocked shots.
 
• Simone Sawyer is first among Ivy players in overall free-throw percentage, at .909.
 
• Gayle is second among Ivy players in overall assists per game (4.2)—behind Yale’s Kylie Capstraw(4.3) —and fourth in steals per game (1.8).
 
AYE AYE, CAPTAINS!
Penn has five players leading the team as captains in 2025-26, tying a program record for a single season. The leadership group is made up of seniors Saniah Caldwell, Simone Sawyer, and Georgia Heine, as well as junior Gayle and sophomore Collins. There have been just two other seasons in program history when the Quakers had five captains: 2004-05 and 2020-21 (which was canceled due to COVID-19).
 
PENN WBB BY THE NUMBERS
8.1 • Collins’ rebounds-per-game average so far this season; that is second among Ivy League players behind Alyssa Moreland (10.6)
 
15.2 • Gayle’s points-per-game average over the last five games; she scored 12 points against Yale.
 
9 • The number of consecutive games that Collins has scored in double figures this season.
 
31 • Blocked shots by Collins so far this season, second in the Ivy League trailing only Yale’s Dorka Kastl (34); Njike is sixth, with 19 blocks.
 
56.0• Penn’s points-per-game scoring defense this season,highest in the Ivy League and 19th nationally.
 
77.9 • Penn’s free-throw percentage for the season, highest in the Ivy League and 18th nationally.
 

#FightOnPenn

 
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