Red vs. green: Penn women's basketball takes advantage as it climbs Ivy League rankings.

Before today's game, the Penn State women's basketball team recognized senior forward Jordan Obi with a trophy ball for scoring her 1,000th career point. Wanting to honor their teammate themselves, the Red and Blue went on the road intending to give their senior captain the best gift possible: a chance at an Ivy title.

Facing the league's lowest-ranked Dartmouth, Penn won 79-41, crushing an Ivy opponent for the 18th consecutive year. From the start, the Quakers (14-11, 6-6 Ivy) did their job against the Big Green (7-17, 1-11 Ivy) and kept their dream of an Ivy League title alive.

With the tournament looming, and the Quakers still having a chance at glory, Penn found themselves fighting for the last available spot in the championship tournament. Entering the night tied for fourth with Brown, there was no room for error.

“We understand what each game means in terms of returns,” Obi said. “We're going to take it one game at a time and try to capture the moment of each possession.”

The match started with Obi, the woman of the night, dominating on both sides of the ball. She made multiple stops against powerful Big Green forward Claire Myers and Obi, who scored four of her first eight points for the Pens, made her one of the Palestra's biggest stars. It perfectly expressed the elements.

“I'm really happy and proud of her…this group was a pandemic group and didn't really attend Penn the first year,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “She's come a long way and she's playing her best basketball at the right times.”

Led by Obi, the rest of the team followed suit with a great performance in the first quarter. The Red and Blue showed off their size and shooting, finishing the frame up 25-5. Junior forward Stina Almqvist never missed the rim, making 4 of 4 shots and grabbing five rebounds. While Dartmouth has a hard time getting through the trees with Obi, Almqvist and senior center Floor Tounders on defense, Penn has been able to light up the court offensively with a field goal percentage of 73.3. did it.

“Our post defense was really good,” McLaughlin said. “We turned that into a little bit of offense, which led to a great first quarter.”

The second quarter couldn't have been any better for the Big Green as the blowout officially began. Freshman guard Mataya Gale decided to join in on the fun, pouring in shots from across the court while providing assists to teammates under the rim. Gale and junior guard Lizzie Groch both had three assists, and Almqvist started the game with eight consecutive hits under the basket for a cool 16 points. As the lead grew, it appeared that nothing could go wrong for the Quakers as they dominated defensively and ended the second quarter up 43-15.

“I think the last thing that killed us at Dartmouth was the post,” Obi said. “Strong post defense was a big focus for us heading into this game.”

With the win in hand, the Quakers received more good news to start the third quarter. Columbia, riding high, defeated Brown, giving Penn a chance to move up in the standings and win if they could secure the win.

The rest of the game featured several different all-bench lineups as Dartmouth waved the white flag. Many players achieved impressive results, but it was the team's star trio of Gale, Almqvist and, of course, Obi that led the way. Both Stina and Obi came up just short of a double-double, but Gail finished second in points and co-leading the team in assists. This impressive win, while not expected, was exactly what the team needed heading into their toughest period of the season.

The Quakers' final home game of the year is tomorrow against third-place Harvard University. The last game of the year will be exactly one week later, on the road against 25th place Princeton, the current leader of the Ivy League. Both of these games will show whether the Red and Blue teams can give their senior players one last chance at Ivy glory, or whether the coaches need to switch their focus to recruiting for next season. It will be decided.

“If the lights go out tonight and come back on tomorrow, we're going to be facing a different animal, a different game,” McLaughlin said. “There will probably be a carryover, because that's what I want.” [the game] To get better. ”

You can watch your team play Harvard at home tomorrow on ESPN+ starting at 5 p.m.