Temple University Athletics
James Madison Ousts Temple from WNIT
3.16.01 | Women's Basketball
Harrisonburg, Va. - "Great season, disappointing finish." Those were the words head coach Dawn Staley used to sum up the 2000-01 season after the Temple women's basketball team (19-11) lost to James Madison (21-9) 59-57 in the closing seconds of the opening round of the WNIT on March 15. The game was close throughout and the Owls had several chances to grab a victory but the Dukes held them off to advance in the 32 team post-season tournament.
When the game was literally on the line, Temple came up short as it shot just 30 percent from the free throw line. Despite shooting twice as many free throws as James Madison, the Owls just couldn't cash in on the freebies as they shot just 4-17 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Junior forward Athena Christoforakis led Temple with 13 points and a game high 13 rebounds. Junior center Lisa Jakubowicz also scored 13 for the Owls and sophomore guard Stacey Smalls added 12. James Madison also had three players score in double figures led by Shanna Price with a game high 17 points. Allyson Keener (16) and Stacey Todd (12) were the other double figure scorers for the Dukes.
For the Owls the season is now officially over and looking back the team came real far, real fast. Temple reached the post-season for the first time since 1989-90, posted its first winning season in more than a decade and finished the regular season in third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference after being picked to finish seventh. Looking ahead, the Owls will return 11 of the 14 names on the current roster and add coach Staley's first full recruiting class to the mix. As debuts go, coach Staley's opening was certainly a success; she would just like a different finish.
