Temple University Athletics
Women's Basketball Sets New Big Five Record With 65-40 Win Over Penn
12.27.07 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2007
PHILADELPHIA- Ashley Morris netted a game-high 18 points to lead the Temple women's basketball team to a record setting 16th consecutive Big Five victory, a 65-40 win over Penn (3-7, 0-3 Big Five) on Thursday night. Shenita Landry and Lady Comfort finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Owls (7-6, 2-0 Big Five) cruised to their third straight victory.
With Friday's win over Villanova, Temple tied the record for consecutive wins (15), a mark set by Saint Joseph's between the 1991-92 and 1995-96 seasons. With two city series contests remaining, the Owls could set another record, this time for being the first team to win four straight titles.
The Owls raced out to a 22-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, thanks to hot long range shooting by Morris and Lindsay Kimmel. A lay-up by Penn's Sara Bucar at 10:48 cut Temple's lead to 14 and sparked an 11-4 run that got the Quakers within nine points (26-17) with just over four minutes to play. The Cherry and White's four points during that stretch came strictly from the free throw line, as the dominant home team failed to score a field goal for nearly eight minutes. LaKeisha Eaddy finally got a jumper to fall at 3:47 to make it a double digit lead yet again (28-17) and Temple went on a 7-2 run to close the half with a 35-19 advantage.
Comfort began the second half scoring with a lay-up at 18:37 and the Owls never looked back as they kept chugging away for the 65-40 result. Penn was only able to get as close as 19 points (52-33) as they fell to the Owls for the 44th time.
Normally a dominant rebounding team, Temple out-rebounded Penn by just three boards, 38-35. Comfort led the Owls effort with six. TU did manage to force 23 Quaker turnovers, while shooting an impressive 42% from the field.
Eaddy dished a game-high five assists, while Landry complimented her offense with a solid defensive output of three steals and two blocks. Shanea Cotton also contributed three steals.
Carrie Biemer led Penn with nine points, while Bucar and Kimberly Franklin each had eight.
Temple returns to action on Sunday when it travels to #6 Rutgers for a 2 p.m. game. The contest can be seen live on ESPNU and heard on WPHT, The Big Talker 1210 AM.
