PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team closes out Big 5 play with city rival La Salle on Sunday in the Toyota Women's Big 5 Classic. The second annual tripleheader event will once again take place at Villanova's Finneran Pavilion, and for the second year in a row the Quakers and Explorers will tip off the day at noon. The other games feature Temple facing Drexel at 2:15 p.m., then Villanova and Saint Joseph's re-ignite their "Holy War" for the city series title at 4:30 p.m.

All three games will air live in the Philadelphia region on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.

The Red and Blue enter the game fresh off a 58-35 win over Maine on Thursday night at the Palestra.
 
GAME 10 - PENN (6-3, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. LA SALLE (6-2)
TOYOTA WOMEN'S BIG 5 CLASSIC
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025 | Noon
Villanova, Pa. | Finneran Pavillion
Watch | Live Stats

THE SERIES WITH LA SALLE
*The Quakers and Explorers will tip off the Big 5 Classic Sunday at noon with their 52nd meeting. La Salle leads the all-time series, 36-15. That said, Penn is on a bit of a roll in the series having won three in a row, five of the last six, and nine of the last 12 matchups.

*These teams opened last year's Big 5 Classic, as well, the Red and Blue earning a 74-63 victory right here at The Finn. Sarah Miller was the revelation, knocking down five triples and scoring 21 points, while Katie Collins had a double-double (12 points/11 rebounds) and Mataya Gayle flirted with a triple-double (11 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists).

*La Salle's last win in the series came on November 30, 2021, a 63-49 victory at The Palestra.

SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS
La Salle enters the contest with a 6-2 record, winning two of the last three. The Explorers thrive on taking the ball away from their opponents, averaging 11 steals and forcing 20 turnovers per game. The three-headed monster of Ashleigh Connor, Aryss Macktoon and Joan Quinn each average more than two steals per game. Macktoon leads the team with 29 takeaways on the year, averaging 3.6 steals. The trio also excels on the offensive side of the floor, as well, each averaging double-figure points. Connor leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 38 percent from downtown. The team's bread and butter is attacking the rim and getting to the foul line, putting up 14 free throws a game.

THE EYES OF TEXAS WERE OPENED
*The Quakers spent Thanksgiving weekend in the Lone Star State and gave a great account of themselves in a pair of games, routing Division III St. Thomas (Texas) 78-44 before falling to then-No. 4 and unbeaten Texas, 81-63.

*In the loss to the Longhorns—who extended their home winning streak to 30 games with the victory and were coming off wins over No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 South Carolina earlier in the week—Penn led after one quarter, 15-11; tied UT in the third quarter, 18-18; and were only outscored in the fourth, 22-18. Gayle led all scorers in the game with 24 points, while Collins nearly had a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.

*In the win over St. Thomas, Collins scored 18 points on a perfect 6-of-6 performance from three-point land and added eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Gayle added 14 points.

NOTES FROM THE MAINE EVENT
Some notes from Thursday's 58-35 win over the Black Bears at The Palestra...

*The 23-point victory was Penn's largest against a Division I opponent so far this season.

*Maine's 35-point night marked the fewest points scored by a D1 opponent against the Quakers since Hartford scored just 30 on January 10, 2023.

*The Quakers scored 19 points off 14 Maine turnovers.

*Penn outrebounded Maine, 44-37; the 44 boards were the most by the Quakers in a game since they had 47 at Delaware State on on November 10.

*Penn dominated the paint, scoring 30 of their 58 points inside at one end and blocking a season-high eight shots at the other.

*Senior Simone Sawyer led the Quakers with 21 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

*Junior Tina Njike nearly had her second double-double of the season on Thursday night, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds (four of them on the offensive glass).

*Sophomore Katie Collins also flirted with a double-double, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points and four blocked shots.

AYE AYE, CAPTAINS!
Penn has five players leading the team as captains in 2025-26, tying a program record for a single season. The leadership group is made up of seniors Saniah Caldwell, Simone Sawyer, and Georgia Heine, as well as junior Gayle and sophomore Collins. There have been just two other seasons in program history when the Quakers had five captains: 2004-05 and 2020-21 (which was canceled due to COVID-19).

PENN WBB BY THE NUMBERS
6.9 - Collins' rebounds-per-game average so far this season; that is tied for third among Ivy League players with Columbia's Perri Page, behind Brown's Alyssa Moreland (10.3) and Princeton's Fadima Tall (8.0).

13.0 - Sawyer's points-per-game average over Penn's last five contests; she has reached double figures in four of them—highlighted by a 21-point day at Hofstra—and scored nine in the outlier game.

29 - Assists dished out by Gayle so far this season, tied with Princeton's Skye Belker for most among Ivy players.

93.5 - Sawyer's free-throw percentage this season (29-31), which was tops among Ivy League players—Dartmouth's Cate MacDonald is second (13-14, .929)—and 14th nationally at the start of the week.

95.2 - Penn's free-throw percentage Sunday at Texas (20-21); Collins was the only player to miss—she was still a solid 5-6—while Sawyer led the way with a perfect 8-8 performance. As a team, the Quakers entered the week shooting 84.0 percent from the foul line, a number that leads the Ivy League and is second nationally behind only Rice (85.5 pct).