Simone Sawyer scored a game-high 21 points on Thursday night, and Penn opened up a 23 point first half lead in rolling past the cold shooting Maine Black Bears 58-35 at The Palestra in Philadelphia in non-conference women’s basketball action.
Maine never led, and was held to their lowest offensive output of the season in the loss. The Black Bears shot just 20% (10-51), that included a 1-20 (5%) effort from the three-point arc. Penn also got 12 points and nine rebounds from Tina Njike, and eight points and 13 boards from Katie Collins. The Quakers out of the Ivy League improve their record to 6-3. Adrianna Smith struggled shooting (3-12), but led Maine with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Lizzy Gruber had one of her better games of the year so far with nine points and eight rebounds. The Black Bears are now 3-6 and will host Atlantic 10 opponent Rhode Island on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Skip Chappelle Court at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono.
