/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/QXZF6D3C6ZFNNEKW2LKVAJPG34.jpg)
Dating back to 1973, La Salle leads the all-time series with Penn, 36-12. However, Penn took the win, 72-59, in dominant fashion on Tuesday night at the Tom Gola Arena.
Simone Sawyer led the way for Penn with 24 points and Jordan Obi contributed 20. The pair combined for 11 rebounds. Kayla Padilla added 10 points, five rebounds and seven assists, and Floor Toonders had 10 boards for the Quakers (2-5), who earned their first Big 5 win in three tries this season.
La Salle (5-3) saw double count three explorers Gabby Crawford (17), and Charity Shears (13), and Claire Jacobs (10). Kayla Spruill added nine points. Crawford and Jacobs led the Explorers with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
READ MORE: Temple ready to face La Salle on Wednesday in doubles at Palestra
The Quakers came out strong, scoring from the jump and implementing an early press, which required some tweaking for the Explorers, who still lack starting point guard Molly Masciantonio.
There’s no doubt that Molly has an impact on our ability to handle these situations, but the talent on our roster is good enough to have been better tonight, said head coach Mountain MacGillivray.
Masciantonio has resumed his activities, but there is no deadline for his return.
La Salle conducted his attack in typical rotational fashion, bringing in new legs every two minutes, depending on the Quakers’ response, although the changes may have happened more often than MacGillivray wished. The Explorers went scoreless for more than three minutes in an opening streak, which was eventually cut short by Crawford.
The Quakers continued to take advantage of turnovers, scoring 21 points on them, and were leading in the paint with 48 against the Explorers 16. Both teams had 22 turnovers, but La Salle struggled to capitalize on his chances. The Explorers shot 32.4%, while Penn shot 42%.
Well, we didn’t play very well tonight, said MacGillivray. Returned the ball 17 times in the first half. Hard to win a basketball game. There is no possibility of winning when you shoot 32% and return the ball 22 times. We have to be better. Were going to get back to work. Bury this one and move on.
With less than seven minutes left in the second quarter, the Penns press was showing its effect in the form of seven Penn steals, including four by Stina Almqvist and 12 La Salle turnovers. Explorers players looked tired, trying to master the game.
We expected it [the press], said Shears. We trained against a press, but I just think we were sped up and kind of disrupted in attack.
La Salle came closer in the second half, but never went over 13 points.
We certainly looked tired differently tonight than I’ve seen us all season. I have no explanation for this, MacGillivray said. I don’t want to take anything away from Penn. [Penn coach Mike McLaughlin is] the best coach in town. He does an incredible job. Their team is really good and really talented, but if you look at tonight, that wasn’t what they were doing.
The Explorers host Lehigh University on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+). Penn hosts Stony Brook at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+).
READ MORE: Here’s how guard Jaye Haynes made a name for himself at La Salle
