The win over the Explorers (9-13, 1-2 Big Five) was Temple's second straight narrow escape.
On Wednesday night, the Owls (13-10, 4-0) gained another last-minute triumph, beating St. Joseph's by 70-67 at home.
By staying super yesterday, the Owls extended their overall Big Five record winning streak to 18 games. The 16-0 mark, which includes the four titles, began in 2004-05.
Appropriately, Ashley Morris, a Central High graduate, and Lady Comfort clinched yesterday's win in the final 20 seconds when they each made a pair of foul shots.
The duo, who have played in all 16 games, along with seniors Nicole Pittman and Candice Burrows, are the only women to go unbeaten in City Series play, which began in 1979-80.
"Just to have an accolade like that is very impressive," Morris said.
La Salle's Carlene Hightower scored a game-high 18, and Melanie Gibbons added 10 points.
Comfort and Shenita Landry each scored 12 points for Temple, while Shaqwedia Wallace added 11 points and LaKeisha Eaddy 10.
The Owls dominated the boards with a 36-18 advantage, including 13-3 on offense.
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic Ten, the Owls (6-1) stayed in first place. La Salle fell to 1-6 in the conference.
Contact staff writer Mel Greenberg at 215-854-5725 or mgreenberg@phillynews.com. Read his blog at go.philly.com/womhoops.
Streaking Owls
Temple's 60-55 win over La Salle yesterday lifted the Owls to a record fourth consecutive Big Five women's championship. All of those Big Five titles were by 4-0 sweeps. The Owls also have an overall Big Five winning streak of 18 games.
