KNOXVILLE, TN--In what could have been the largest upset in Temple women's basketball history, the Owls narrowly missed toppling the #1 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols, 52-48, on Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. Temple, which held UT to just 32% shooting for the game, took a 9-0 lead to begin the game and never trailed by more than five throughout the rest of the contest. Senior Cynthia Jordan poured in game-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds, while fellow senior Ari Moore chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds. As a team, Temple out-rebounded the Lady Vols 42-39.
"Our kids put our hearts on the line and almost came up with one of the biggest upsets in women's college basketball," Temple head coach Dawn Staley said. "We had ample opportunity to win the basketball game. I am very proud of our girls, it's not every day that you can come into a historical place like Knoxville and play a great game."
The Owls jumped out to a 9-0 lead to begin the game, holding the top-ranked Lady Vols scoreless until the 15 minute mark. Brittany Jackson finally broke the scoring drought when she hit a three-pointer at 15:35. The Owls continued to roll, on buckets from Kamesha Hairston and Candice Dupree, putting Temple at a 13-5 scoring advantage. UT mounted a comeback in the ninth minute, but all hopes were squashed as Temple led 20-10 with just over 4:30 to go. Shanna Zolman, who finished with a team-high ten points for Tennessee, sparked a second UT comeback and it was a final lay-up by Alexis Hornbuckle with one second remaining that gave the Lady Vols a 23-22 edge at the half.
Play continued to be intense in the second half, with each team taking turns trailing by one point. Tennessee tried to pull away in the 14th minute, garnering a five point lead, but a lay-up by freshman Lady Comfort and a trey from Jordan tied the game at 43 points with just over five minutes to go. The next four minutes saw both Temple and Tennessee trailing and regaining the lead but it wasn't until the final seconds that it became clear who was to prevail in this hard-fought battle. Jordan hit a shot to bring Temple within one basket at 1:56. Temple's defense pressured hard and forced a Lady Vol turnover. With the clock winding down, it seemed all Temple had to do was hit a three-pointer and the game would be over. Junior Jennifer Owens tried for the trey and missed. Hairston tried for a two-pointer and missed. Moore grabbed the rebound and put it back up but that too failed to go in the basket. In the scramble for the rebound, Moore was charged with a foul and the Lady Vols sent leading scorer Shyra Ely to the line. Ely iced both free throws to seal a 52-48 win for Tennessee.
"We can compete with anybody," Moore said. "They (Tennessee) put their shoes on one at a time just like everyone else. It is upsetting that we lost, but we will be back and we will get somebody."
Ely had a game-high six steals and a team-high three assists and seven boards for UT.
Temple returns home to take on Morgan State on Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m.
