Temple University Athletics
TEMPLE WOMEN FALL, 70-57, IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT AFTER LATE RUN BY TCU
3.20.04 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- Sandora Irvin scored 21 points with 13 rebounds and Ebony Shaw added 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Texas Christian to a 70-57 win against Temple in the first round of the West Regional on Saturday at the Liacouras Center. The Lady Frogs (24-6), who converted on 50.0 percent of their field goal attempts, finished the game on a 21-9 run to secure the victory.
Ari Moore's 16 points and seven rebounds led the Owls (21-10), who aimed for their first NCAA win since the 1989 Tournament. Candice Dupree added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Cherry & White.
"I vowed to our players that if we are ever in this situation again we'll get out of the first round," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "We have got to keep fighting and building and keep working on the little things. There is another level of basketball being played. We've just got to keep getting the experience and the exposure."
Facing a 38-35 deficit in the second half, Dupree took a steal the length of the court for a layup with 14:06 to play. Dupree then grabbed a rebound at the other end of the floor and pushed the ball to Britney Jordan, who drew contact and hit two free throws to give the Owls a 39-38 lead, their first advantage in more than 19 minutes. The two squads then traded baskets until Irvin scored a jumper underneath to give the Frogs a 44-41 lead at the midway point of the second period.
Temple kept TCU within its grasp for the next several minutes and Kamesha Hairston closed the gap to 49-48 on a layup with 7:26 to play. A jumper by Shaw with 6:19 to play sparked a 7-0 spurt as the Cherry & White was held scoreless for a four-minute stretch that resulted in a 56-48 Lady Frog lead.
From there, the Owls remained within striking distance, cutting the lead to as few as six points, until Dupree fouled out with 1:31 to play. With Temple down 60-54, Dupree picked up her fifth foul as Irvin sank a layup, pushing TCU's advantage back to eight. After Irvin missed her free throw attempt, Texas Christian -- which shot 18-for-23 on free throws -- sank its final eight attempts from the charity stripe while Temple only hit one more basket, a Jordan three-pointer, for the remainder of the contest.
Neither Temple nor TCU led by more than two points for the first 16:42 of play. With the teams facing their 10th tie of the game at 22-22, Irvin, the niece of former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin, and Shaw each hit layups to give TCU a 26-22 advantage with 3:18 remaining before intermission. After Hairston's layup at the other end pulled Temple back to within two points, the Frogs used a pair of layups by Ortega and an Adrienne Ross layup to extend their lead to 30-24. Two foul shots by Moore before halftime cut TCU's lead to 30-26 heading into the locker rooms.
The sixth-seeded Lady Frogs held Temple to just 32.8 percent shooting in the game en route to their fourth opening round victory in as many years. Temple's trademark pressure defense squeezed out 15 TCU turnovers, but the Owls only converted on eight points off those 15 turnovers.
Until Texas Christian's game-clinching run, neither team led by more than six points in a contest that saw 11 ties and seven lead-changes.
TCU will face third-seeded Georgia (23-9) on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center. All-SEC Freshman selection Cori Chambers scored a career-best 19 points on Saturday to lead the Bulldogs to a 78-53 victory against Liberty (25-7). Jessica Pierce added 17 points and Sherill Baker chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Georgia. Kristal Tharp scored 15 points to lead the Flames.
Janese Hardrick knocked down a three-pointer for the Bulldogs at the start of the second half to spark a 20-8 run that gave Georgia a 50-29 lead with 13:29 to play. After Daina Staugaitiene's three-pointer brought the Flames to within 59-42, the Bulldogs scored eight unanswered points and Georgia's lead did not dip below 20 points for the remainder of the afternoon.
Liberty, which earned the 14-seed in the West after winning the Big South Conference Championship for the eighth-straight season, was held scoreless until the 13:26 mark of the first half. The Flames used a 14-6 run to cut Georgia's lead to 19-17 with 5:14 remaining before intermission, but the Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 15 points to close the half with a 30-21 advantage.
Ari Moore's 16 points and seven rebounds led the Owls (21-10), who aimed for their first NCAA win since the 1989 Tournament. Candice Dupree added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Cherry & White.
"I vowed to our players that if we are ever in this situation again we'll get out of the first round," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "We have got to keep fighting and building and keep working on the little things. There is another level of basketball being played. We've just got to keep getting the experience and the exposure."
Facing a 38-35 deficit in the second half, Dupree took a steal the length of the court for a layup with 14:06 to play. Dupree then grabbed a rebound at the other end of the floor and pushed the ball to Britney Jordan, who drew contact and hit two free throws to give the Owls a 39-38 lead, their first advantage in more than 19 minutes. The two squads then traded baskets until Irvin scored a jumper underneath to give the Frogs a 44-41 lead at the midway point of the second period.
Temple kept TCU within its grasp for the next several minutes and Kamesha Hairston closed the gap to 49-48 on a layup with 7:26 to play. A jumper by Shaw with 6:19 to play sparked a 7-0 spurt as the Cherry & White was held scoreless for a four-minute stretch that resulted in a 56-48 Lady Frog lead.
From there, the Owls remained within striking distance, cutting the lead to as few as six points, until Dupree fouled out with 1:31 to play. With Temple down 60-54, Dupree picked up her fifth foul as Irvin sank a layup, pushing TCU's advantage back to eight. After Irvin missed her free throw attempt, Texas Christian -- which shot 18-for-23 on free throws -- sank its final eight attempts from the charity stripe while Temple only hit one more basket, a Jordan three-pointer, for the remainder of the contest.
Neither Temple nor TCU led by more than two points for the first 16:42 of play. With the teams facing their 10th tie of the game at 22-22, Irvin, the niece of former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin, and Shaw each hit layups to give TCU a 26-22 advantage with 3:18 remaining before intermission. After Hairston's layup at the other end pulled Temple back to within two points, the Frogs used a pair of layups by Ortega and an Adrienne Ross layup to extend their lead to 30-24. Two foul shots by Moore before halftime cut TCU's lead to 30-26 heading into the locker rooms.
The sixth-seeded Lady Frogs held Temple to just 32.8 percent shooting in the game en route to their fourth opening round victory in as many years. Temple's trademark pressure defense squeezed out 15 TCU turnovers, but the Owls only converted on eight points off those 15 turnovers.
Until Texas Christian's game-clinching run, neither team led by more than six points in a contest that saw 11 ties and seven lead-changes.
TCU will face third-seeded Georgia (23-9) on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center. All-SEC Freshman selection Cori Chambers scored a career-best 19 points on Saturday to lead the Bulldogs to a 78-53 victory against Liberty (25-7). Jessica Pierce added 17 points and Sherill Baker chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Georgia. Kristal Tharp scored 15 points to lead the Flames.
Janese Hardrick knocked down a three-pointer for the Bulldogs at the start of the second half to spark a 20-8 run that gave Georgia a 50-29 lead with 13:29 to play. After Daina Staugaitiene's three-pointer brought the Flames to within 59-42, the Bulldogs scored eight unanswered points and Georgia's lead did not dip below 20 points for the remainder of the afternoon.
Liberty, which earned the 14-seed in the West after winning the Big South Conference Championship for the eighth-straight season, was held scoreless until the 13:26 mark of the first half. The Flames used a 14-6 run to cut Georgia's lead to 19-17 with 5:14 remaining before intermission, but the Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 15 points to close the half with a 30-21 advantage.
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