Jordan Obi Reaches the 1,000 Career Points Plateau
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 2/2/2024 –
February, the critical month in the Ivy League, especially if you are chasing a spot in Ivy Madness. Coming into the game the Brown Bears were in a three-way tie for second place. The University of Pennsylvania Quakers sat in fifth place, two games back. Getting to be crunch time.
Then the Red and Blue came out ready to play and wins 77 – 56 over Brown to even their Ancient Eight record at 3 – 3, a game out of the top four spots.
In the Record Book
In the fourth quarter Jordan Obi became the 25th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career-points milestone, sixth fastest at Penn. In her 74th game Obi got to one thousand level on a short jumper in the paint with 8:54 on the clock. For the game she made 4 of 4 field goal attempts, including a three-pointer, and went 11 of 12 from the foul line. The senior also took down 13 rebounds for her 7th double-double of the season. And added 3 blocked shots to round out the game. An efficient twenty-point game as can be according to her coach, and acknowledged by the Penn Band.
“These things, it’s not a big deal to me,” Obi said. “But to see the band and the banner and my teammates was really meaningful.”
“The coaches, teammates, none of this would be possible without them, so just attribute it to them.”
The Good Start
It took both teams a bit to get going on offense. Eventually, the Quakers did and broke out to a 17 – 10 lead behind back to back three-pointers by guard Stina Almqvist, who scored 17 points. Penn would close out the quarter scoring 14 of the next 16 points. The advantage would stretch to as many as 22 points at the 5:30 mark on a three-pointer by guard Saniah Caldwell. Simone Sawyer sent the team to the locker room with a 45 – 29 lead with a triple.
“It is really important in conference games and playing on your home floor,” Sawyer said. “You want to get out to a quick start especially in this conference, with back to back games. You want to get up quick and have them call a timeout, which we did. To get those quick points up is really important.”
Three-Point Shooting
In the first half Penn made 8 of 15 from beyond the arc headed by guard Simone Sawyer who had three three’s. For the game the Quakers shot 10 of 24 from distance.
“It was just us being prepared,” Sawyer explained about the success from beyond the arc. “You open up the floor for a lot of good shots. Our team practices that. So it was good execution.”
Defense
In the balanced effort the Red and Blue held Brown to 29% shooting (9 of 31) in the first half. For the game the Bears shot 19 of 66 (29%). The shooting woes continued for the Bears as this was the third lowest percentage for the season by .001 points. The team came off a 19.7% shooting effort in their 35 – 31 win over Dartmouth.
“I thought we played really good basketball,” said Penn Coach Mike McLaughlin. “I thought we came out and defended really hard. They executed on offense and we made shots in that first quarter. It was a great team win.”
What the Numbers Say
In addition to Obi and Almqvist, Mataya Gayle added 11 points. The first eight players for Penn who got into the game scored. On defenses the Quakers had 8 steals with Sawyer and Gayle getting three each.
Brown had two players reach double-digits. Kayla Jones scored a team-high 18 points. Bella Mauricio added 11 points.
Ivy Weekend Continues
Penn hosts Yale on Saturday. A win and the Quakers can be in the Ivy Madness picture that is taking shape. The team realizes that a weekend sweep makes that picture brighter and sharper. No time to celebrate, time to focus on playing better. It ends the first half of the Ivy schedule.
“We just talked about having success and stay away from the winning and losing,” McLaughlin said. “They play well, they’re going to have a better chance to win.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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