Penn women battle back to gain victory over Drexel

Penn’s women’s basketball team edged Drexel in a 5349 victory at The Palestra on Friday morning.

Despite a nine-point deficit after one quarter, the Quakers (8-1) battled back with a 17-2 run in the third quarter, started by a pair of

3-pointers from Kayla Padilla. Drexel never regained the lead.

Padilla led the Quakers with 17 points, which continues her streak of scoring at least 14 points in every game to start her collegiate career. Tori Crawford, Phoebe Sterba, and Eleah Parker also netted double figures with 10 points each.

Parker added five blocks. Penn is 8-1 for the first time in program history.

Bailey Greenberg led Drexel (6-5) with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Kate Connolly scored nine points, eight rebounds, and three assists.

SAINT JOSEPH’S 63, HARVARD 39 >> Claire Melia and Katie Jekot combined for nearly half the team’s points at 33 as the Hawks (5-5) won in the opener of the FAU Holiday

Classic. The Hawks advance to Saturday’s championship game against Furman.

St. Joe’s (5-5) started with a 9-0 advantage and extended its lead to 13-5 to remain on top at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks opened up the second with a 5-0 run to deepen the Harvard deficit to 13 and took a 30-16 lead at the end of the half.

Melia tallied 18 points, and Jekot added 15. Mary Sheehan (Cardinal O’Hara AllDelco) helped lead the Hawks on the defensive end to contain Harvard and take a 4724 lead into the final quarter. CABRINI 75, KEAN 57 >> Cabrini limited Kean to just 28 percent shooting for the day in improving to 7-2. In the first quarter, the Cougars connected on only 2 of 15 field goal attempts to start the game.

Ashley Tuzauer led all scorers with 19 points. Kate Lannon (Sun Valley) finished with 18 points and a teamhigh nine rebounds. Lexi Edwards and Miranda Liebtag also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.