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Despite a career-high scoring effort from Jenna Clark ’24, the Yale women’s basketball team (10–9, 4–2 Ivy) lost 79–57 at the University of Pennsylvania (13–6, 5–1) on Saturday.

The Quakers drove the Bulldogs out of Pennsylvania with old-fashioned bully-ball. They out — rebounded the Bulldogs 39–22 on their way to a program record 11th home victory in a row.

Clark scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer. Penn responded with a bucket from their star guard, Kayla Padilla, and claimed the lead a few minutes later. Although Clark would pour in four more threes and Nyla McGill ’25 would grab a team-leading eight rebounds, Yale could not retake the lead for the rest of the night.

“I think our biggest takeaway can be a combination of two things,” McGill wrote to the News, “1) taking a simplistic approach and focusing on basic principles and 2) how important communication is.”

The Bulldogs fell behind by six points at the end of the first quarter. They cut the deficit down to two in the second quarter on a McGill steal and score, but Penn responded with an 11–5 run and grew their lead to 10 before the halftime buzzer sounded.

In the third quarter, Penn shot 9–11 from the field and surged ahead by 20 points. Quaker captain Padilla, who scored 21 points on the night, helped them quell any Bulldog rallies. The Quakers shot at a 57 percent clip on the night.

“Their [rebounding] really hurt us,” Mackenzie Egger ’24 told the News. “They also were able to shoot the ball at a high percentage, so it was harder for us to get their missed shots as well.”

Clark matched Padilla’s scoring with 21 points of her own, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Her late game scoring surge was not enough to overcome Penn’s 20 point lead, however, as Yale ended the game behind 79–57.

Clark set a career record with her 21 points. Her previous career high was a 20 point performance against Army last season in which she went 2–4 from three. Against Penn, Clark went 5–9 from three.

“Just getting in the gym and working on my shot during the week has been great,” Clark wrote. “Our coaches also have a lot of confidence in us, so it’s easy to feel ready and be able to hit those shots.”

With the loss to Penn behind them, the Bulldogs turn to prepare for their upcoming matchup against Princeton (13–5, 4–2), who are riding a five-game winning streak and stand at third in the Ivy League. The game will be in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.