Temple University Athletics
Temple Women's Basketball Overwhelmed By #6 Rutgers, 70-34
12.30.07 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2007
Piscataway, N.J.-Ashley Morris tried desperately to dig her team out of a large deficit, scoring 15 of Temple's 34 points, including 11 in the second half, but she could not battle a strong Rutgers team alone, as her team fell 70-34 to the sixth-ranked Scarlet Knights on Sunday afternoon. The 34 points was the lowest point total since December 12, 1998 when Temple scored 34 against then #16 Duke. TU falls to 7-7 on the season, 1-5 against ranked teams this season, while Rutgers improves to 9-2.
Temple made just 10 field goals in the game and committed 21 turnovers, while the Scarlet Knights made 56.3% of their shots. Epiphanny Prince led all scorers with 20 points and six steals.
Temple was non-existent in the first half, netting just three field goals and committing 13 turnovers. Rutgers' Matee Ajavon was unstoppable in the first half, netting 14 points on six-of-nine shooting. The Owls shot just 21.4% from the floor, well below the Scarlet Knights' 65.2%.
The evenly matched teams failed to score on their first few trips down the floor, forcing the game to go scoreless until the 17:38 mark. LaKeisha Eaddy sank a trey to put the Owls on top 3-0 but Prince answered with a lay-up at 17:10, sparking a 6-0 Rutgers run to make it 6-3. The lead was short-lived however, as Ashley Morris' three-pointer tied the game at six just 20 seconds later. The Scarlet Knights then began to build momentum, putting together a 20-6 run and holding the Owls without a field goal for over eight minutes. Temple continued to drive to the basket, however, opting to run its offense through the free throw line instead. The Owls tried many different match-ups during that stretch but could not find an answer for Prince and Matee Ajavon who each netted seven points. Shenita Landry finally got Temple its third field goal of the half with a lay-up at 7:10 but it was just a minor inconvenience for the Scarlet Knights who rattled off 12 more points to make it 38-14 going into halftime.
After starting the second half with two defensive stops, the Owls committed three straight turnovers to allow Rutgers to go on a 5-0 run. Temple needed a pick-up and Morris was there to provide the power. She got the Owls on the second half board with a trey at 17:40 and followed that up with six more points to make it a 20 point game (43-23) with 16 minutes to play. The surge was brief, however, as Rutgers went on a 12-2 run to make it a 30 point game (55-25) with just over 10 minutes to play. Lindsay Kimmel broke the four minute TU scoring drought with a three-pointer at 10:04 but Rutgers refused to relent, taking as much as a 36-point lead on their way to the 70-34 win.
Jasmine Stone provided a game-high nine rebounds and had three assists and three steals to help the Cherry and White effort.
Ajavon finished with 14 points and eight assists, while Kia Vaughn and Rashidat Junaid each grabbed eight boards.
Temple will look for a fresh start in 2008, traveling to Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday, January 2 for a 7 p.m. game.
