Women’s Basketball Falls to UPenn in Fourth Quarter

On a dreary Wednesday night in February, Newman Arena unexpectedly came to life in the fourth quarter of a razor thin, back-and-forth contest between Women’s Basketball and the Quakers of Pennsylvania. In a game where each team performed almost identically on paper in field goal attempts (23-22), rebounds (38-36), turnovers (13-16) and assists (13-15), there is one glaring difference on the statsheet: UPenn (12-13, 7-6) attempted 20 free throws compared to the Red’s (9-15, 4-9) eight attempts at the charity stripe. 

To make matters worse, the gulf between free throw attempts was nonexistent heading into the fourth quarter of a one-point game. In fact, trailing 51-50 at the end of the third quarter, the Red had visited the line six times compared to the Quakers’ four free throw attempts. In a final period defined by controversial calls, 12 of the Quakers’ 19 points came at the line, while the Red posted a meager seven points with only two free throw attempts in the quarter. With this fourth quarter advantage, UPenn ultimately went home with a conference win, defeating the Red 70-57.