Temple University Athletics
TEMPLE'S BALANCED OFFENSE STIFLES RHODE ISLAND, 70-56
2.13.05 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA-- Cynthia Jordan scored 16 points to lead five Owls in double figures as Temple's balanced offense stifled the Rhode Island Rams, 70-56, on Sunday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Temple, which is on a 17-game winning streak, improves to 20-3 overall and 12-0 in the Atlantic 10, while the Rams fall to 5-18 overall and 3-9 in conference play. Kamesha Hairston and Jennifer Owens chipped in with 12 points apiece, a tally which tied Owens'career high, while Candice Dupree and Ari Moore each scored 10 points. With today's win, the Owls have also clinched the Atlantic 10 East Division title.
Though the Rams shot a game leading 44.9% from the field, it was their 25 turnovers that proved to be the most detrimental to their offense cause. The Owls totaled 17 steals, led by Moore's five, while Hairston and Dupree helped themselves to four apiece. Hairston grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Dupree dished a game-high four assists.
Temple owned the game from the opening whistle, allowing the Rams to score just 12 points in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Owls raced out to a 7-0 lead before Safi Mojidi finally got the Rams on the board with a basket at 17:51. The Owls responded with an 11-0 run, making the score 18-2 by the 15:26 mark. Temple continued to capitalize on URI's 17 first half turnovers and led by 20 points, 30-10, the midway mark.
The Rams were able to get a slight rest when Dupree went down with a foot injury at 11:12. A hush fell over the crowd of 939 as the entire arena waited to see if the junior All-America Candidate would be able to get up. Dupree limped off the court and into the training room but returned to ten minutes later to finish the rout that she had began. The Rams' deficit swelled to 25 points with five minutes remaining and stuck as the teams took a 46-21 score into the locker rooms.
It looked as if Temple's offense was beginning to ease up a bit in the second half, due to the fact that the Owls did not score a basket until five minutes into the second stanza. That was just a slight snag, however, as the Owls increased their lead to as much as 30 points on their way to the final 70-56 final.
Tanya Rhodes was the leading scorer for URI, with 14 points, while Mojidi netted 13. Mojidi also accounted for three of the Rams' total six steals.
Next up for the Owls is a trip to St. Bonaventure, when they take on the Bonnies on February 17 at 7:00 p.m.
