Penn vs Temple | NCAA Women's Basketball | 12.11.22

PHILADELPHIA – Senior guard Kayla Padilla's 28-point outburst — including her 1,000th career point — and a game-winning layup with six seconds remaining sealed the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team's 62-61 victory over Temple Sunday afternoon at The Palestra.

The Quakers, now winners of five straight games, improve to 6-5 on the year and finish Big 5 play with a 2-2 record.

Quaker Notemeal
*Padilla dropped 28 points on 10-for-21 shooting, 6-for-13 from beyond the arc to lead the way. It's the second straight game with 20-plus points, fourth of the season.

*Her 1,000 point comes in just 58 games, the fastest under head coach Mike McLaughlin and third fastest in program history. The only two that did it faster were the program's all-time leading scorer, Diana Caramanico (48 games) and Mandy West (52 games).

*Junior Jordan Obi had a 16-point performance to go with eight rebounds. It's her fifth straight game in double figures, now averaging 12.2 points per game.

*Freshman Simone Sawyer went 50 percent from the floor, knocking in 5-for-10 with three from beyond the arc for 13 points. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week has officially eclipsed 100 points in her first season, averaging 9.6 points per game at a .458 shooting clip.

*Penn overcame a 15-point deficit midway through the third quarter, outscoring the Owls, 17-13 in the fourth.

*The game saw 12 lead changes and three ties. Penn held the lead for 9:49, while the Owls had it for 26:14.

*It's the 16th win against Temple in program history, 10th in The Palestra.

How It Happened
Both teams started the game scoreless over nearly the first two minutes of the contest with the Quakers striking first as Jordan Obi sank one of two foul shots to give Penn the early 2-0 lead. Temple answered back with a layup a couple seconds later to go back ahead by one.

Penn extended its opening run to 6-2 following a pull-up jumper from Kayla Padilla and a timely three-pointer from Obi. Temple got a couple shots to fall — including a triple from the right corner — to cut the Penn lead to 10-7 at the first media timeout of the quarter.

Though Padilla led the way with six points on 50 percent shooting, the Owls held the Quakers scoreless over the final 3:25 of the first stanza, with Penn going 0-for-5 from the field during that stretch. In the meantime, Temple scored back-to-back Jasha Clinton baskets to tie the game at 12-12 heading into the second quarter.

Padilla opened the second in style with a three-ball that beat the shot clock, answering a Temple basket with one that re-took the lead at 15-14.

Temple's 9-4 run over the next 4:01 gave the Owls a 23-19 lead with 4:49 to go, as Penn used a timeout. Temple upped its lead to nine at 29-21, but the Quakers answered back quickly with two layups from Obi, one off a beautiful feed from Floor Toonders and another off the dish from Mandy McGurk.

Obi made it three layups in a row to end the half as the Quakers went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 29-27 heading into halftime.

It was all Temple coming out of the half, beginning things on a 13-0 run over nearly four minutes of play and holding Penn without points since two Obi free throws cut the deficit back to two points. The Owls converted on five consecutive field goals during that push.

It quickly became Padilla's show as she converted on a layup to halt the Temple run and then got two chances to shoot free throws following a blocking foul. Soon after, she sank a trey from the left corner to get the 1,000th point of her career. Simone Sawyer nailed a three-pointer on the fast break to see-saw the run back in Penn's favor, up to 11-0, cutting the Temple advantage to 44-40.