No. 23 WBB Staves Off Penn In Gritty Road Win, 71-60 - University of North Carolina Athletics

Saturday, November 14

Philadelphia, Pa.

4 PM

North Carolina

2-2,0-0ACC

Penn

4-1,0-0Ivy League

Team	1	2	3	4	F
North Carolina	18	17	15	21	71
Penn	16	15	14	15	60

Game Notes (PDF)

November 14, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA – In its lone true road game of non-conference action, No. 23 North Carolina women's basketball fended off a pesky Penn team from The Palestra on Saturday night to come away with a 71-60 victory. Propelled by Kate Harpring, the freshman dropped a career-high 30 points to lead all scorers from the Cathedral of College Basketball.

North Carolina (2-2) willed its way to victory through the duo of Harpring and Achol Akot in its first program meeting against Penn (4-1). Harpring's 30-point performance was the first by a Tar Heel freshman since 2018. Akot came alive in the second half with 14 points en route to a season-high 16 points and led Carolina with eight rebounds.

Distributing the ball at a high rate, Reniya Kelly dished out a team-high five assists for her seventh career game with five or more dimes and her third of the season with four or more helpers.

As the Quakers came out of the gate hot from beyond the arc, the Tar Heels worked to catch up in the opening minutes. Feeling it herself, Harpring poured on 10 points herself alone in the first quarter. Despite Penn leading by five, Carolina punched back to snag a narrow 18-16 lead through one.

Due to coughing up the ball, Carolina kept having to stay in step with Penn as the Quakers took advantage of Tar Heel miscues. Harpring continued to light it up, draining three threes alone in the second quarter as Carolina battled to grab hold of the game. After being held scoreless for over two minutes, North Carolina finally broke the drought off Nyla Brooks' second triple of the evening to re-take the lead. In a back-and-forth first half with five ties, Carolina carried a slight advantage at 35-31 at the break.

Finding her groove in the third, Taissa Queiroz began to contribute offensively as Carolina attempted to pull away from Penn. Holding the Quakers without a field goal for over four minutes, Harpring kept causing damage as the freshman eclipsed her previous career-high with 23 points. Getting Akot involved, Carolina capitalized on an and-one to extend its advantage to nine at the under-five timeout of the frame. As Carolina hit a shooting slump, Penn took advantage with multiple threes and trips to the charity stripe to force a one-possession game. Akot fought her way to the hoop to extend the Tar Heel lead to 50-45 with 10 minutes remaining.

Cashing in on Quaker turnovers, the tide continued to turn Carolina's way as it quickly built up its lead to double-figures for the first time of the night in the first minute and a half of the fourth. Penn fought to come within four points with five minutes remaining, until Harpring silenced the crowd by heading straight through the paint. A 7-0 Carolina run provided breathing room to put Penn in the rearview mirror and come away with the 71-60 victory.

A trip to the Happiest Place on Earth awaits, with the Tar Heels heading to Orlando next week for two games at the WBCA Showcase from ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. First, the Tar Heels take on Texas Tech on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2, followed by Alabama on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+.