At Oxford Powell met an archaeologist, Humfry Payne (19 February 1902 – 9 May 1936), whom she married in 1926. Whilst studying at Oxford she made news headlines in the "Daily Mail" after being 'taken out for tea' and climbing over the wall to go out with her boyfriend, whom she would later marry. She was rusticated for two terms, and the principal accused her of 'dragging the name of Somerville in the dust'. She graduated with a first-class honours degree.