PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 16, 2021) -- On Tuesday afternoon, the King's College women's basketball team squared up against Division I University of Pennsylvania in the historic Palestra, falling 91-55 in nonconference action. The Monarchs drop just their first contest as the season as they fall to 2-1 overall, while the Quakers improve to 2-0 with the win in their home opener.

King's (2-1) got on the board on a driving layup by junior Emily Morano after getting a defensive stop on the opening possession. A three from Morano saw the Monarchs leading by one, 5-4, with 7:12 left in the opening quarter, but five straight points from UPenn (2-0) gave the hosts a 9-5 advantage with just under five to go. The Monarchs never trailed by more than six through the opening period as they trailed, 20-16, after one quarter of play.

The Monarchs pulled within four, 23-19, on a three from senior Samantha Rajza before the Quakers built their lead, holding a double-digit margin throughout the quarter. King's defense and timely three's kept UPenn from opening a lead, trailing 48-35 at the halftime break.

A three from senior Emily Kriston with 7:01 to go in the third pulled King's back within single digits, 52-43, but UPenn went on an 11-0 run over the next 4:40 before another Rajza three broke the drought, still trailing 63-46. Two more Quakers baskets before the end of the period saw the Monarchs behind, 67-46.

The fourth quarter went to the hosts, as King's hung tough down the stretch before posting the 91-55 final score in The Palestra.

Rajza paced the Monarchs with 20 points with six three's, three assists, three steals, and two rebounds. First year Alli Lindsay came off the bench as the other Monarch in double digits with 10 points, while Kriston filled the stat sheet with team highs in both rebounds (7) and assists (7). Morano totaled eight points and six boards as well for King's.

Jordan Obi led the Quakers with a double-double of 29 points and 12 rebounds, adding three steals, two assists, and two blocks. Mandy McGurk added 17 points, while Sydnei Caldwell posted 10 points.

King's shot 31.3 percent from the field (19-61), including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (12-36). They totaled 14 assists on their 19 field goals and collected 33 boards.

The Monarchs are back in action this weekend as they travel to the University of Scranton for the annual Cross-County Challenge. King's will face the host Scranton on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. before taking on Marywood University on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the John Long Center.