RV/25 USF defeated UNC Asheville in the Bulls' home opener at the Sun Dome and SMU topped Eastern Washington at Moody Coliseum to highlight Saturday women's basketball action around The American.
RV/25 USF 97, UNC Asheville 53
USF cruised through its home opener on Saturday, dropping UNC Asheville 97-53. Tamara Taylor scored a season-high 14 points as the Bulls shot 54 percent from the field and held the Bulldogs to just 32.8 percent. USF forced 21 turnovers in the Bulls’ third win of the season.
Recording a season-best 20 assists as a team, USF got seven points and seven assists from freshman Laia Flores off the bench, and another four assists from freshman Laura Ferreira. The Bulls’ third freshman, Maria Jespersen, started and tallied a career-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds in the post. Alisia Jenkins contribed 13 points and 11 rebounds along with four blocks for her third double-double of the season.
SMU 69, Eastern Washington 53
Three Mustangs reached double figures in points in SMU's 69-53 victory over Eastern Washington at Moody Coliseum.
Destynee Hives-McCray recorded her second double-double of the season for SMU, pulling down 13 points and 12 rebounds. Raven Short and Morgan Bolton added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double digit scoring for the Mustangs.
SMU (2-2) used an 18-5 rally in the first eight minutes of play to jump out to an early lead. During that stretch, Hives-McCray scored 11 of her 13 points. Eastern Washington, who fell to 1-2 on the year with the loss, shot just 35.2% from the field, including a 17.6% clip from beyond the arc. Hayley Hodgins was the only Eagle in double figures with 10 points.
RV/NR Kansas 76, Temple 56
Temple dropped a 76-56 decision to Kansas their home court in Saturday's Hall of Fame Challenge Tournament game. The Owls' season mark is now 2-2, while KU improves to 3-1.
Freshman Alliya Butts led Temple with 19 points, adding three steals and three boards while classmate Tanaya Atkinson contributed 12 points and six rebounds. Safiya Martin led the Owls in rebounds with nine.
The Jayhawks connected on eight 3-pointers in the first half en route 48-20 lead at the break. KU stretched its advantage to 30 points in the second period before Temple put together a 12-3 run, including seven-straight points from Butts, to cut the lead to 57-34 with 11:50 to play. Temple held the Jayhawks to just 28 second half points on 11-of-30 shooting from the field, but the first-half deficit was too much to overcome. Gardner finished with 22 points for KU, while Aldridge and Chayla Cheadle each chipped in with 13.