Freshman guard Mataya Gayle poured in a game-high and career-high 28 points, including four free throws in the final 15 seconds, as her University of Pennsylvania Quakers outlasted the University of Maine 72-69 at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
Penn improved to 7-5 in the see-saw affair that saw 20 lead changes and eight ties.
The Black Bears concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule at 7-7.
Georgia native Gayle, a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week, had nine of her points in the decisive fourth quarter as did senior forward Jordan Obi, who finished with 15 points.
UMaine used a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to turn a 61-54 deficit into a 63-61 lead on an Adrianna Smith layup with 3:09 remaining.
But Jordan nailed a 3-pointer 25 seconds later to give the Quakers a lead they would never relinquish.
Sophomore guard Saniah Caldwell expanded the lead with a pair of free throws 32 seconds later.
Smith’s two foul shots cut the lead to 66-65 with 44 seconds remaining.
But two-time All-Ivy second team selection Obi hit a short jumper 22 seconds later to move the lead back to three.
Anne Simon hit a jumper with 17 seconds remaining to again slice the lead to one.
The Black Bears were forced to foul and Gayle sank a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left to make it 70-67.
The Black Bears had a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer but sophomore guard Sarah Talon turned the ball over and Gayle sewed up the win with a free throw.
Simon had an opportunity to tie it with a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer but it narrowly missed.
It was the sixth time UMaine has given up at least 70 points this season after allowing it to happen just four times all of last season.
“You can’t give up 72 points,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon to Black Bears Sports Properties/Van Wagner play-by-play announcer Don Shields after the game. “We had a lot of great performances, offensively, but our defense has to get better. We have to keep working on it.”
Gayle had seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with her 28 points.
Obi had five rebounds and two blocked shots to accompany her 15 points and junior guard Stina Almqvist produced 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Six-foot-four senior forward Floor Toonders chipped in with six points, eight rebounds and three assists.
UMaine’s junior forward Smith and senior guard/forward Caroline Bornemann paced four Black Bears in double figures with 18 points apiece.
Smith and Bornemann each corralled 10 rebounds to share game-high honors. Smith also had eight assists, narrowly missing a triple-double. Bornemann had two steals.
It was Smith’s ninth double-double of the season and 25th of her career.
Bornemann’s double-double was her first of the season and her four 3-pointers enabled her to become the 21st player in program history to register 100 career 3-pointers.
Graduate student guard Simon scored in double figures for the eighth straight game as she had 17 points to go with four rebounds. Sophomore guard Talon from Windham had a season-high 14 points.
Penn, a WNIT team a year ago and picked to finish fourth among eight teams in the Ivy League preseason poll, shot 40 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent beyond the 3-point arc compared with UMaine’s 45.1 percent and 27.3 percent, respectively.
The Quakers outrebounded UMaine 34-33.
UMaine senior guard Olivia Rockwood and junior guard Sera Hodgson returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games due to injury. Rockwood had two points in 23 minutes of playing time while Hodgson had a rebound in four minutes.
UMaine will open America East play at UMass Lowell on Thursday at 6 p.m. before welcoming defending league champ and preseason favorite Vermont on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Memorial Gym.
Penn will entertain Gwynedd Mercy University on Sunday at 1 p.m.
