Temple University Athletics
Hairston's 34 Gives Temple Its First Win Over Florida, 85-80, in Overtime
1.2.07 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2007
Gainesville, FL- Kamesha Hairston's career-high 34 points gave Temple its first win over Florida, an 85-80 overtime battle, on Tuesday afternoon at the Gators' O'Connell Center. Hairston added 10 boards and six steals for her seventh double-double of the season, while LaKeisha Eaddy had 18 points and a career-high six steals. Temple recovered from a horrible first-half shooting percentage to improve to 1-3 all-time against Florida. The Owls win their fifth straight game and improve to 9-4 overall, while the Gators fall to 6-9 overall.
Temple began the game with a 6-0 run, holding the Gators scoreless until the 17:15 mark. Florida's suffocating defense forced the Owls to miss some easy lay-ups and Temple suffered some scoreless droughts of their own. A 12-0 Florida run put the Gators on top, 15-8 at 11:20. A Fatima Maddox jumper at 11:08 ended the run and Temple's five minute scoreless stretch but, with just a 22% shooting percentage and red-hot shooting by the Gators' Dupree Bowden, the Owls soon found themselves in a 30-16 hole. The Owls responded with a 10-5 run to cut the deficit to eight (30-22) with three minutes to play. The eight point differential stood and the Gators took a 32-24 advantage going into the half. Hairston's 14 points was the lone bright spot in a lackluster Temple shooting performance (29.7%). Temple was dominant on the boards, out-rebounding the Gators, 25-15, but failed to convert.
Bowden continued to roll in the second half, sparking a 5-0 run to make it 37-24 just one minute into the stanza. Temple responded with a run of its own and was able to get within seven but Florida continued to dominate, making it a 13-point game (50-37) just with 13 minutes to play. A three-pointer by Maddox sparked an 11-7 run that got the Cherry and White within seven but 12 points from Sha Brooks made it a 10-point game yet again. Hairston refused to go down without a fight and continued to pace the Owls, closing the gap to just two points (66-64) with just over two minutes to play. Hairston's lay-up at 1:43 tied the game at 66 and an Eaddy jumper gave Temple a 68-66 lead, thanks to a 12-0 Temple run. Two free throws by Brooks ended the Gators' four minute scoring drought and tied the game yet again (68-68) with just 37 seconds to play. Maddox put Temple ahead by two with 17 seconds to go but Brooks countered, preserving the 70-70 stalemate and sending the game into overtime.
Hairston tied her career-high 31 just seconds into the overtime period and Bowden answered with a lay-up to keep the game tied. A 6-0 run gave Temple a 78-72 cushion with 3:02 left to play. The Gators answered with a 4-0 run to close the gap to just two (78-76) with two minutes to play. Temple responded with a 5-2 run to make it 83-78 with 22 seconds to play The Owls continued to stay strong and escaped with the 85-80 victory, their first in four tries.
Shenita Landry also saw double figures with 11 points and nine rebounds, eight of which were offensive, while Lady Comfort grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Owls' 46 total rebounds. Maddox dished a game-high six assists and contributed nine points.
Brooks led Florida with 26 points, while Bowden chipped in with 25.
Temple returns home to face Brown on Friday, January 5 at 7 p.m.
