The University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team lost to the fourth-ranked Texas Longhorns, 81-63, in a non-conference matchup on Sunday at the Moody Center in Austin. The Quakers led after the first quarter and stayed competitive for much of the game but were ultimately unable to overcome a decisive second quarter from Texas.
With this result, Penn’s season record moved to 5-3 while Texas remained undefeated at 8-0 and extended its home winning streak to 30 games.
Junior Mataya Gayle led Penn with a season-high 24 points, just four short of her career best. Sophomore Katie Collins added 12 points and senior Simone Sawyer contributed 10. The Quakers were strong from the free throw line, converting 21 out of 22 attempts for a 95.5 percent success rate. The game featured six lead changes.
For Texas, Madison Booker recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The game started with both teams exchanging baskets and leads early on. Penn managed to build an early advantage with contributions from Gayle, Collins, and Tina Njike. At the end of the first quarter, Penn led 15-11 after Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer received a technical foul and Collins made two free throws.
Texas took control in the second quarter by focusing their offense inside. Justice Carlton scored three consecutive baskets in the paint, while Kyla Oldacre tallied eight points during a stretch that saw Texas go on a 12-0 run. Njike picked up her third foul midway through the period and sat out for the rest of the half, further challenging Penn’s frontcourt depth.
By halftime, Texas had scored 22 of its 30 second-quarter points in the paint and held a 41-27 lead over Penn.
In the third quarter, Collins opened scoring with a three-pointer as Penn reduced Texas’s lead to single digits following Sawyer’s layup assisted by Saniah Caldwell. Both teams scored evenly in this period (18 points each), leaving Texas ahead by fourteen entering the final frame.
Texas increased its lead early in the fourth quarter before Caldwell and Gayle responded with three-pointers for Penn. However, an eight-point run by Texas put them ahead by more than twenty points midway through the period. The Quakers closed within sixteen late after another basket from Gayle but could not close the gap further.
Penn was outscored only by four points across the second half (40-36) but could not recover from being outpaced in the second quarter.
Next, Penn will return home to host Maine at The Palestra on Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
