Temple University Athletics
#19/20 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SUFFERS 58-41 SETBACK AT GW
1.11.06 | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON, DC.-It was once said that all good things must come to an end. The #19/20 Temple women's basketball team experienced that proverb first hand on Wednesday evening, dropping a 58-41 decision to Atlantic 10 rival George Washington. After posting a 24 Atlantic 10 Conference game winning streak, the Owls allowed a poor shooting percentage (27%) and scoreless stretches of up to nine minutes to ruin their chances of yet another undefeated season in Conference play. Temple falls to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the A-10, while the Colonials improve to 10-4 and 3-0 in the A-10.
The first half looked promising, as Temple put on the defensive pressure early and earned an 8-2 lead, thanks in part to consecutive offensive rebounds by Kamesha Hairston. Jessica Simmonds gave GW a basket early but went scorless for a full five minutes until Whitney Allen sank two free throws. After coming out blazing, the Owls began to cool off and suffer a scoreless drought of their own, going from the 16 minute mark to the 10 minute mark without a field goal and allowing the Colonials to tie the score at eight points and then 10 points. With All-America candidate Candice Dupree enjoying quadruple coverage for most of the half, and Jennifer Owens in early foul trouble, Temple struggled to find offensive options and soon found itself down by nine points with just over three and a half minutes remaining. The Colonials held Temple scoreless for over eight minutes, while going on an 11-0 run to build the 19-10 lead. A Dupree lay-up finally gave Temple some points at 2:24 and a trey by Hairston with 1:45 remaining looked like it was all the Owls needed to close the gap. However, GW netted six points in the final two minutes to take a 25-15 advantage into the lockeroom. Though the Owls shot just seven-for-31 from the field, the Colonials turned the ball over seven times, allowing Temple to stay in close range.
The second half proved to be not much better than the first and Temple found itself down 31-19 by the 15 minute mark. Two straight steals by Fatima Maddox and a lay-up by Lady Comfort got the Owls within six points (31-28) by 11:22 but that would be as close as Temple could come to topping its 2004 A-10 championship foe. As hard as they tried, the Owls could not seem to close the 16-point gap and as the reserves checked in, all Temple could do was wait until the final buzzer sounded.
Khadija Bowens led Temple with 11 points and five assists. Hairston was the only other Owl to see double figures, contributing 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Owens earned a career-high four steals and Dupree was held to just eight points and seven rebounds.
Jazmine Adair led the Colonials with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Kimberly Beck and Sarah Jo Lawrence chipped in with 10 points a piece.
Temple returns home to take on Fordham on Friday night at 7 p.m. and St. Bonaventure on Sunday at 2 p.m.
