The Temple College Leopards women's basketball team began their 2025-2026 with a home non-conference game against Palo Alto College Saturday at Kirby Johnson Gymnasium.
The Leopards shook off a first quarter where the ball was not going in after several second and third-chance shots.
But when the second quarter began, the Leopards when into turbo mode, having outscored the Palominos 30-6 in the second quarter and 22-10 in third quarter, and 27-7 in the fourth as TC routed Palo Alto, 92-40.
Kendall Gonzales and Bethany Garcia paced the Palominos early, as they scored 11 of Palo Alto's 17 points in the opening ten minutes.
Sy'Nariea Snow scored seven of Temple's 13 points in the first quarter, as the Leopards trailed 17-13.
TC turned on the tempo in the second quarter, with Kyla Clark, Korina Garcia, and Ke'Myreul Wheaton having combined to score 19 of Temple's 30 points. The Leopards went on a 12-0 run over a seven-minute stretch as Temple led at the halftime break, 43-43.
The Leopards continued the pounce on the Palominos, with another solid ten minutes where the full-court press and high-tempo was the modus operandi. Temple used scoring from eight different players in the quarter to give the Leopards a 65-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Temple's defense never quit, as they held the Palominos without a field goal in the quarter, and held Palo Alto to 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. The Leopards parlayed the defense into multiple fast-break opportunities over the final ten minutes.
The Leopards were 10-of-18 from the free-throw line and logged seven three-pointers. All 12 players dressed scored for Temple, led by Clark with 13 points. Ma'Leah Duval and Andronea Jackson each scored ten points, and Snow scored nine.
Palo Alto was 13-of-23 from the charity stripe, a trio of three-point buckets, but had just six field goals in the final three quarters.
Alyssa Garcia and Kendall Gonzales each scored nine points for the Palaminos.
The Leopards will host Coastal Bend College on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 pm at Kirby Johnson Court.