JOHNSON CITY, TN--Senior Ari Moore scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Temple Owls, 64-42, over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Friday evening. The 2-1 Owls held the 2-2 Bucs to just 20% shooting from the field, allowing ETSU to make only 12 of 59 field goals.
The two teams played a sloppy first half, with both the Owls and the Bucs committing 17 turnovers. East Tennessee went on a 4-0 run to begin the game, capitalizing on early Temple mistakes. Leading scorer Candice Dupree finally got the Owls on the board when she drove the lane for a layup at 15:30. Moore gave Temple its second bucket at 13:26 but the Bucs had already built an 8-4 lead. Just when it seemed that the Bucs had gotten the best of Temple, something suddenly awoke within the Owls and they went on a 14-0 run to take a 22-10 lead with just over four minutes remaining. Temple continued to roll and took a 30-16 advantage going into halftime.
The Owls continued their scoring rout throughout the second half, with their lead increasing to as much as 24 points. The gap proved to be too much for the Bucs to overcome and Temple took the game 64-42.
Sophomore Kamesha Hairston chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Dupree grabbed a game-high eight rebounds before fouling out midway through the second half. Senior Cynthia Jordan dished out a game-high six assists and posted six steals. Though the Owls committed 31 turnovers to the Bucs 23, it was the 52-33 differential in rebounds that seemed to be the game-winning ingredient for Temple.
The Buccaneers' Tiffani Mayes, who was a one-woman scoring machine, led all scorers with 22 points, going 8-9 from the free throw line.
Temple continues its tour of Tennessee with a match-up against #1-ranked University of Tennessee on Sunday. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
