The Quakers’ win over La Salle Wednesday night — Penn’s first Big 5 victory in six years — showed the vast improvements that the team has made.
Saturday afternoon’s loss against Temple can be considered another step forward.
The Red and Blue nearly doubled their pleasure at the Palestra this week but came up painfully short,w losing, 62-55, to Temple.
“I’ve seen a lot of progress and growth in this team,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “To be able to come out and put ourselves in another chance to win, as coaches that’s all we’re hoping for. It’s not always the cleanest basketball, but I don’t think you’ll find better effort.”
After being down by nine at halftime, Penn came back and put a scare into a strong Owls team (13-6, 2-0 Big 5).
Freshman guard Alyssa Baron led the charge, tying her career-high with 23 points and setting a career-high with five assists.
Meanwhile, Brianna Bradford kept the Quakers in it with some timely buckets: her three-point shot narrowed Temple’s lead to one, and another jumper by the sophomore guard tied the game at 36 with 13:45 left in the game.
After defensive stopper Jess Knapp fouled out down the stretch, Temple stymied Penn’s offense.
“We had a few key turnovers in the end that really hurt us,” Baron said. “They capitalized on those with open threes. In the end, we didn’t play too well.”
“For the first 15 minutes of the first half we outplayed them,” McLaughlin added. “But they outplayed us the last five.”
Penn (6-9, 1-3) opened up its final Big 5 game aggressively but lost its patience — the Quakers committed 10 turnovers — and then its lead to an Owls team that had expected to win big. Guard Shey Peddy paced the Owls with 20 points and six assists.
Yet the loss represents a marked improvement for the Quakers, who have now lost seven straight to the Owls. The margin of victory in the previous six losses has averaged 19.1 points per game.
“I see a group that went from one level to another level,” McLaughlin said. “They believe they can do this and they’re committed to doing it, and they have a little confidence now. They realize they can compete.”
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