PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team is back in the City of Brotherly Love, traveling to La Salle on Tuesday night before kicking off a 10-game home stretch on Thursday with a clash against Stony Brook.
 
GAME 7: PENN (1-5) at LA SALLE (5-2)
Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | 6:30 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes | History
 
GAME 8: PENN (2-5) vs STONY BROOK (4-2)
Thursday, December 1, 2022 | 7:00 PM
Philadelphia, Pa. | The Palestra
Watch | International Stream | Live Stats | Game Notes | History
 
The Series With La Salle
The Quakers are meeting the Explorers for the 49th time in program history, as La Salle holds a 36-12 lead in the all-time series. Prior to the pandemic, Penn had won two straight games against the Explorers. However, La Salle returned last season to take the victory in The Palestra. The Quakers have won three times in Tom Gola Arena, most recently in 2019 with a 65-49 victory. Kayla Padilla (24) and Phoebe Sterba (22) led the scoring for Penn.
 
Last Time We Met
A late surge by La Salle last season in The Palestra boosted it into the win column over the Quakers, 63-49. The Explorers put together a 26-6 fourth quarter to erase a late deficit to take the decision, although Penn was without its leading scorer in Padilla for the game. Mia Lakstigala earned a double-double in the outing leading all scorers with 18 points to go with 10 rebounds. Jordan Obi narrowly missed a double-double, adding 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
About La Salle
The Explorers are riding a 5-2 record into Tuesday night's clash at Tom Gola Arena, only falling to Howard (62-57) and Alaska Anchorage (88-75). There have been no familiar foes to Penn's schedule so far for La Salle, but the Explorers are coming off a 71-54 victory last Tuesday at Lafayette where Kayla Spruill and Gabby Crawford each dropped 16-point efforts. La Salle is averaging 73.6 points per game on .409 shooting, led by Spruill at 14.4 points and .541 from the floor.
 
The Series With Stony Brook
The Quakers are meeting the Seawolves for the fourth time in program history, as Stony Brook holds the slight 2-1 edge over Penn. This is the first time the two teams will match up in The Palestra since the first meeting in 2000. Penn won the game, 68-56.
 
The Last Time We Met
The two squads squared off in Stony Brook last season with the Seawolves taking a close 75-69 decision. Padilla led all scorers with 29 points on 11-for-23 shooting and five three-pointers. It was her fifth game out of seven that she scored 20-plus points. Obi had 18 points to go with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Stony Brook's Gigi Gonzalez led the returning scorers with 14 points, while Nairimar Vargas-Reyes pulled in a game-high 14 rebounds. A back-and-forth battle swayed seven times with nine ties.
 
About Stony Brook
The Seawolves enter the game with a 4-2 record, only dropping games to Syracuse (79-56) and St. John's (78-52). They are returning from a two-game trip in Puerto Rico where they topped High Point (86-72) and Texas A&B – Corpus Christi (63-58). With a consistent three starters over their first six games, they are led by Anastasia Warren (16.5), Sherese Pittman (13.3), and Gonzalez (11.3) in scoring so far. As a team, they are averaging 66.5 points per game while shooting .370 from the floor, .264 from beyond the arc.
 
Penn's Trip To Cali
The Quakers returned from their West Coast trip in California just in time for Thanksgiving, dropping a pair of tight games including a battle with USC out of the Pac-12 Conference. On Monday, the squad saw a double-digit lead to San Francisco fade in the second half, but it didn't go without a record-book performance from freshman Simone Sawyer. The rookie guard led the offense with a career-high 18 points, shooting 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. She tied the freshman program record for threes in a game, a mark set by teammate Padilla. Among all players in program history, the six threes were the sixth most in a game. Sawyer followed up that performance with another 18-point outing in her first collegiate start on Wednesday against the Trojans. Taking on the Power 5 opponent, Penn held a lead for nearly 50 percent of the game, falling by just six in the end, 66-60. Sawyer led all scorers for the second straight game with four more threes, bringing her total to 10 through two games. Three other Quakers put together double-digit outings: Padilla (13), Floor Toonders (10), and Mandy McGurk (10).  
 
A Look Ahead
Following Tuesday's night "road" game at La Salle, the Quakers open a 10-game home stretch that expands to January 14, 2023. Six of the games are against non-conference opponents, including the Quakers' final Big 5 matchup against Temple on December 11. Penn will host its first four Ivy League games, the opener on January 2 against Brown.