PHILADELPHIA -- Temple held Penn to 15 points and 20% shooting from the floor in the first half and coasted to a 63-46 win on Wednesday in its Big 5 opener at the Liacouras Center. Senior Cynthia Jordan was all over the court, scoring a game-high 21 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing five assists in only 27 minutes of action. Two other Owls, senior Ari Moore and sophomore Kamesha Hairston, each scored 13 points. The victory was a bit a revenge for TU, who dropped a 70-64 decision to its city rival last season.
After struggling defensively in a 77-58 loss at Florida on Saturday, the Owls (4-3, 1-0 Big 5) clamped down on a Penn team that was looking to take an early lead in the Big 5 standings. Temple disrupted UP on the offensive end of the court and the forced the Quakers to shoot only 32.2% from the field. While the Gators found success behind the arc (11-for-24), Penn missed all three of its three-point attempts.
Ahead 19-12 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, Temple held the Quakers without a field goal for the rest of stanza. Jordan controlled play and accounted for the final 10 points of the half via a basket or assist. Junior Candice Dupree added six points and eight boards in the first 20 minutes of play and TU went into intermission with a 26-15 lead.
In the second half, the Owls went on a 17-2 run early in the period to put the game away. Hairston scored seven points during the run as Temple took a 45-19 lead midway through the half. During the final seven minutes of the first half and the first nine minutes of the second, the Owls outscored the Quakers, 29-9. The advantage stretched to 26 two more times before Penn cut into the lead in the final minutes to account for the 63-46 final.
All but one Temple player saw action in the contest. Freshman Lady Comfort continued her improvement, grabbing five rebounds in 14 minutes of play. She is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game in just over eight minutes per game.
Monica Naltner paced the Quakers with 13 points and Joey Rhodes added 11 off the bench. Penn drops to 3-4 and 2-2 in the Big 5. The two City Series wins are the most in program history.
The Owls are off until Monday when they host #20/19 Rutgers at 4:00 p.m. The game is the opener in a men's/women's doubleheader that features Temple-Wake Forest at 7 p.m.
