PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team returns to Philadelphia this week for a pair of Big 5 matchup, traveling to Saint Joseph's on Tuesday before hosting the home opener at The Palestra Thursday against Villanova.
 
GAME 3: PENN (1-1) at Saint Joseph's (0-1)
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 | 7:00 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes 
 
GAME 4: PENN (1-1) vs Villanova (2-0)
Thursday, November 17, 2022 | 7:00 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | The Palestra
Watch | Live Stats | International Stream | Game Notes 
 
The Series With Saint Joseph's
The Quakers are meeting the Hawks for the 47th time in program history on Tuesday, as Saint Joseph's holds a 41-5 advantage in the series.
 
Last Time We Met
The last matchup was in The Palestra last season on December 7. A fourth-quarter push by the Hawks secured them an 83-70 decision. Kayla Padilla was the lone Quaker in double figures in the game, going off for 31 points on 10-for-20 shooting and five three-pointers. Her game high in points was accompanied by a game-high five assists. On the Hawk side, Katie Jekot and Laila Fair led the offense with 20 points each, while Talya Brugler and Kaliah Henderson came off the bench for 18 and 16, respectively.
 
About Saint Joseph's
The Hawks have an unblemished record through their first games, earning a 66-49 victory over Bucknell in the season opener then topping Yale this past Friday, 59-54. Both games were played in Hagan Arena, as SJU plays three of its opening four games at home. Averaging 62.5 points per game, the Hawks are paced by Mackenzie Smith with 15.5 points and Brugler with 11.0. Jekot commands the offense with 10 assists through two games, dishing out five in each contest.
 
The Series With Villanova
The Quakers are meeting the Wildcats for the 49th time in program history, with Villanova holding a 45-3 lead in the all-time series.
 
Last Time We Met
Last season the two teams squared off in The Palestra short their two leading scorers: Kayla Padilla and Maddy Siegrist. A battle until the final possession, the Wildcats earned a close 66-63 decision. Penn overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, rallying to trail by just two with 23 seconds remaining after Jordan Obi drilled a three. The Wildcats hit 1-of-2 at the line in the final 10 seconds, and a three-point attempt at the horn by Lizzy Groetsch rimmed out for the Wildcat win. Obi led the Quaker offense with 24 points, playing all 40 minutes. Villanova was led by LIor Garzon and Lucy Olsen with 21 and 20 points, respectively. The Quakers shot 50 percent from the floor, while the Wildcats shot 40 percent.
 
About Villanova
The Wildcats are riding a 2-0 record into their matchup with the Quakers in The Palestra, securing road victories of Marist (60-38) and then-No. 25 Princeton (69-59). Siegrist has been the catalyst on the squad, averaging 26.5 points and 13 rebound per game. The All-American is coming off a 32-point, 13-rebound performance against the Tigers, helping the Wildcats make their way into the Associated Press Top 25 this week for the first time since January 2018. They enter Thursday's game as No. 24 in the country.
 
Penn's Last Time Out
The Quakers are returning to Philadelphia after a trip to Evanston on Sunday, falling in close bout with Northwestern from the Big Ten Conference. Trailing by as much as 16 points in the second half, the Quakers rallied to close the gap to three points in the closing three minutes before dropping a 63-55 decision in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Padilla and Mandy McGurk led the offense with a combined 35 points, as Padilla knocked in 20 with a career-high seven rebounds and McGurk added 15 with four assists and three steals. The Quaker defense held the Wildcats to 33.8-percent shooting.
 
A Look Ahead
The Quakers are on the road a lot through the month of November, only playing in The Palestra once on November 17 against Villanova. Beyond opening the season at Marist and the trip to Chicago for the Northwestern matchup, they hit the west coast for California the week of Thanksgiving for battles against San Francisco (Nov. 21) and USC (Nov. 23). The rest of the month includes two more Big 5 games in Philadelphia, at Saint Joseph's (Nov. 15) and at La Salle (Nov. 29).
 
Leading The Way
Penn is led by a pair of seniors this season, as the team named Mandy McGurk and Kayla Padilla captains. This is Padilla's second stint in the position, earning the honor last season as well. Both players are critical pieces to the success of the program, each being with the team since freshman year.
 
Padilla Cut Loose
The senior guard from Torrance, California has had a decorated two seasons with the Quakers already, with a list of accolades to go along with it. She entered her Penn career with a stellar freshman season where she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, first team All-Ivy, USBWA National Freshman of the Week, and countless Player of the Week nods from the conference and Big 5. Without a season in 2020-21 due to the pandemic, she picked up right where she left off last year, earning first team for the Ivy League, Big 5 and City of Basketball Love. She averaged 37.6 minutes per game which led the Ivy League and was 11th in the country. She also led the conference in scoring with 18.6 points per game at a .401 clip. To top it all off, she continued to put her name in the program record book, setting the three-point field goal record for a single game with nine against Memphis, totaling 36 points for the contest, the 10th most points in a program history. She is opening her senior season on the Preseason Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list for the second-straight time, which she proved the voters right after a 31-point performance in the season opener at Marist and followed with 20 points at Northwestern on Sunday. She was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career on Monday.
 
New Faces
The Quakers have seven new players this season, six freshmen and a junior transfer. All seven come from far and wide including the Netherlands, Canada, California, Illinois, and New Jersey. Junior Floor Toonders highlights the group, transferring in after two seasons with Florida. The freshman class includes Saniah Caldwell, Simone Sawyer, Georgia Heine, Isabel Gomez, Helena Lasic, and Ella Ray.
 
Magic Number: 60
The statistic that may most indicate a Penn win or loss? 60 points. Penn has won 125 of its last 131 regular season games when scoring at least 60 points in regulation. Since head coach Mike McLaughlin took over at Penn, the Quakers are 162-18 (.900) when they reach that number (134-10 over the last seven seasons). In comparison, the Quakers are just 49-120 (.292) when they've scored less than 60 points under Coach McLaughlin. The trend continues defensively. Over the last eight seasons, the Red and Blue are 41-78 (.347) when allowing 60 points or more. But when holding opponents under that number, the Quakers hold a healthy winning record of 167-34 (.830).