Joseph V. Labolito/Temple Athletics

Women's Basketball

Temple Falls to West Virginia in OT in WNIT Semifinals

Postseason Central

Temple's season came to an end in the WNIT semifinals on Wednesday, as the Owls fell to West Virginia, 66-58, in overtime. Temple closed the 2014-15 campaign with a 20-17 overall mark. 

Senior Tyonna Williams led the Owls with 15 points and three assists in the final game of her collegiate career. She hit three from long-range and closed out her time with Temple with a program record 171 made 3-pointers. Williams also became the all-time program leader in career free-throw percentage, connecting on 81.6-percent (230-282) of all attempts from the charity stripe. She broke a 27-year old record of 81.4-percent that had been held by Addie Jackson '88. Williams also finishes 17th on the career scoring list with 1,075 points, and fifth on the all-time assists list with 375 helpers. 

Also topping the box score for Temple, freshman Tanaya Atkinson notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards, while junior Erica Covile had nine points and six boards. Freshmen Khadijah Berger (nine points) and Alliya Butts (eight points) rounded out the scoring for the Owls, while sophomore Safiya Martin tied a team-high with 11 boards. 

A tightly contested first half featured four ties and 11 lead changes, with neither team managing more than a five-point cushion at any point. Temple had a slight edge offensively, due in part to Berger's outing from three-point range, as the freshman connected on three-of-four early attempts. In total, the Owls shot 41.7% from long range and 34.4% from the field. West Virginia had the edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Owls, 27-21.

Temple stretched its lead to eight points (38-30) early in the second half, sparked by a Covile three and back-to-back steals and lay-ups from Butts and Atkinson. West Virginia battled back with a 6-0 run, and and then took a 44-43 lead on an Averee Fields jumper with 7:20 to play.

Temple had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but a pair of contested attempts under the basket missed the mark. The Owls were looking for a foul on both plays, but no whistle blew, sending the game to overtime. 

The Mountaineers took the early lead in OT and pushed it to 62-55 before a three from Williams brought it to 62-58 with 33 seconds to play. West Virginia made both sets of free-throws in the final 30 seconds, while the Owls missed their last-ditch attempts, giving the Mountaineers the win.

Temple's 2014-15 season saw the Owls win 20 games for the first time since 2012. The team also reached a post-season final four for the first time in program history.