Saturday, Feb. 6
Temple 65, Wichita State 57
The Temple women's basketball team outlasted a late comeback attempt by Wichita State to win 65-57 Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena. The Owls improved to 7-7 (7-4 AAC) while the Shockers dropped to 4-8 (1-6 AAC).
How It Happened
> The Owls used a strong first half to hold a comfortable 34-23 lead at the break.
> Wichita State came out and outplayed Temple in the second half, scoring 34 points to the Owls' 31. However, it wouldn't be enough to knock off Temple as the Owls completed the series sweep over the Shockers.
> Temple outrebounded Wichita State, 40-30, 10 of which were offensive boards.
> The Owls finished the game shooting 40% from the floor while the Shockers ended with a field goal percentage of 42.9.
Statistically Speaking
> Senior Mia Davis and sophomore Asonah Alexander led the Owls with 17 points apiece. Davis added seven boards while Alexander chipped in six.
> Freshman Jasha Clinton added 16 points for Temple along with five assists, two rebounds and a steal.
> Senior Emani Mayo also had a solid performance with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
> Junior Alexa Williamson rounded out the box score with her seven rebounds.
First Quarter: Temple 18, Wichita State 11
> Alexander led the Owls in the first quarter with nine points as she shot 57.1% from the floor.
> Temple knocked down three triples in the first frame as they outscored the Shockers 18-11.
> The Owls had the advantage on the boards across the first 10 minutes, pulling down 13 rebounds while Wichita State collected just seven.
Second Quarter: Temple 34, Wichita State 23
> Both teams shot 38.5% from the field in the second quarter, but the Owls were able to outscore Wichita State 16-12.
> Temple forced the Shockers into five turnovers, giving the Cherry and White seven points off mistakes.
> A pair of free throws from E. Mayo with one second remaining in the half gave Temple their largest lead of the game thus far (11).
Third Quarter: Temple 44, Wichita State 36
> Wichita State won the battle of the third quarter, 13-10.
> The Owls committed five turnovers and seven fouls after the break, giving the Shockers five points off turnovers. Wichita State was unable to capitalize on Temple's fouls as they shot just 3-8 from the line.
> Despite the Shockers pulling down four offensive boards in the third quarter, Wichita State was only able to collect two second-chance points.
Fourth Quarter: Temple 65, Wichita State 57
> The Owls opened the final quarter with back-to-back buckets in the first minute of action, forcing the Shockers to call a timeout.
> A 6-0 run for Wichita State towards the end of the fourth frame brought the Shockers within seven points, the closest they had been since the second quarter.
> Alexander ended the streak with a pair of foul shots at the 2:17 mark.
> However, Mariah McCully answered with a three-pointer for the Shockers at 1:36 to bring Wichita State within six points.
> The Owls then outscored the Shockers 8-6 in the final minute to win the game.
East Carolina 67, Memphis 53
A dominant 23-6 fourth quarter helped the ECU women's basketball team come back to beat Memphis 67-53 in Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
ECU improves to 6-10 overall and 4-7 in AAC play while Memphis drops to 4-8 with a 2-5 conference record. The win snaps a seven-game losing streak for the Pirates.
Lashonda Monk led ECU with 20 points and five assists while Maddie Moore (15 points) and Taniyah Thompson (11) both scored in double-figures. Alexsia Rose tallied a career-high nine points while Dom Claytor had eight points and four of ECU's 11 steals.
The Pirates forced 28 Memphis turnovers and scored 24 points off those Tiger miscueThe turning point in the game came midway through the third quarter. A layup from Memphis' Coriah Beck put the Tigers up 43-32, the largest lead of the game. On the ensuing possession, Moore pulled down an offensive rebound and Sierra Dacosta used that second chance to find Monk, who hit a triple to give ECU some momentum. The Pirates continued to whittle away at Memphis' lead for the remainder of the third, finally getting back within three when Monk made another second-chance jumper to end the period.
Trailing 47-44 with ten minutes remaining, ECU took its defense up another notch. The Pirates scored the first six points of the fourth to take their first lead since the opening frame. Memphis answered with three straight points from Dulcy Mendjiadeu Fankam to tie the game. From the 7:21 mark until just 47 seconds remained, the Pirates did not allow a single point from Memphis. ECU forced five turnovers in that span and that helped spark the offense.
After free throws from Thompson and Moore, a driving layup by Claytor put ECU up by five. The dagger came after another Memphis turnover, as Rose swung the ball to Moore at the top of the key and she drilled a three-pointer to put the Pirates up by eight. ECU eventually stretched its lead to double-digits and beat the Memphis press down the stretch to hold on for the victory.