Temple University Athletics
Hairston and Christmas Named OwlSports.com Co-Athletes of the Month
1.4.07 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Senior All-America candidate Kamesha Hairston and sophomore guard Dionte Christmas have been named the OwlSports.com co-Athletes of the Month for December, announced Thursday. The Temple women's basketball team currently rides a five-game win streak thanks to Hairston's double-double average. (21.0 ppg, 11.4 rpg) in the month of December. Christmas, guiding the Cherry and White to a 5-3 mark, posted a 20.9 points per game average while shooting at a blistering 54.5 percent clip from the field.
In the Owls' five wins in December, Hairston averaged 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest while shooting 47.8 percent (38-for-80) from the field. Against Big 5 rivals Villanova (12/22) and Penn (12/29), the Toledo, Ohio native tallied 17 and 25 points, respectively, in consecutive wins. In two losses to ACC foes North Carolina State (12/2) and first-ranked Maryland (12/10), Hairston poured in an average of 25.5 points per game while grabbing nine caroms per contest.
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While surpassing the 20-point plateau in seven of eight contests in December, Christmas buried 40 percent (20-for-50) of his three-point attempts while depositing 88.6 percent (39-for-44) of his tries from the charity stripe. In a 75-70 win at Towson (12/16), the Philadelphia native scored a career-best 29 points, on a torrid 64.3 percent shooting (9-14), and matched a career-high with five assists. Three days later, Christmas added 23 points to the Temple cause in a 75-70 win at Ball State. Despite an 83-65 road loss to Big 5 rival Villanova (12/30), the second-year guard tallied 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field.
Hairston and the women's team resume play on Friday (1/5) night at 7:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center against visiting Brown. Christmas and the men's team travel to Xavier on Saturday (1/6) night for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. The men's Atlantic 10 conference opener against the Musketeers will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and heard on WPHT 1210 AM.
