Temple University Athletics
#25/22 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TAME WILDCATS, 52-43, TO DENY 'NOVA BIG FIVE CROWN
12.22.05 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA- Kamesha Hairston netted 14 points and Candice Dupree grabbed 10 boards to lead #25/23 Temple over the visiting Villanova Wildcats on Thursday evening. With the win, the Owls improve to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Five and successfully deny the Wildcats the Big 5 crown for the second straight year. Villanova (7-3) was 3-0 in the Big 5 coming into tonight's game and needed the win to sweep the city series. Though play was sluggish, Temple was able to secure itself at least a share of the Big 5 title.
Including postseason conference tournaments, Temple extended its winning streak over Big 5 opponents to 12 games. The Owls haven't lost a city series game against Villanova, La Salle, Penn or Saint Joseph's since dropping a 66-57 decision to the Wildcats early in the 2003-04 season.
Whenever two city teams meet, no matter what their skill level, it always seems to be a grudge match. Both teams were somewhat slow and ackward in the first stanza, with the Owls shooting 37.9% from the field and the Wildcats hitting just six-of-24 shots. Temple took an early lead, thanks to four points from Lady Comfort, and led 10-2 by the 15 minute mark. The 10-2 tally held until the 13 minute mark when Jenna Vianni gave Villanova its first field goal of the game. That is where the scoring ended, however. Neither team was able to score for the ensuing possessions, allowing the 10-5 score to stand for a full five minutes. Stacie Whitman finally broke the scoring drought with two free throws at 8:27 and Dupree was able to get the Owls back on track with a jumper 40 seconds later. Khadija Bowens gave TU a slight offensive spark, with four straight points to make it 16-9, but the Wildcats used a 10-8 run in the final minutes of the half to make it 22-19 at the break.
Jackie Adamshick began the second half scoring for VU with a jumper at 19:30 to make the score 22-21. Comfort finally got Temple on the second half boxscore with a three point play at 17:22 to make it 26-21. TU then used a 7-1 run to open up a 10-point lead (32-22) by 12:51 and led by as much as 16 throughout the rest of the contest for the 52-43 win.
Dupree added three assists and three blocks to her nine-point, 10-defensive rebound effort. Jennifer Owens dished four assists and Comfort finished with nine points. Fatima Maddox was a bright spot in the slow game, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
The Wildcats finished with just a 24.1% shooting percentage for the game, going just 13-for-54 from the field. Liad Suez-Karni was the lone Villanova player in double figures with 12 points.
Temple returns from the holiday break to face the #1-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols on Wednesday, December 28 at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on CN8.
