Temple University Athletics
Temple Sends Maddox and Hairston Off Right With 74-64 Win Over Saint Louis
2.15.07 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2007
PHILADELPHIA- In the final home game of their Temple careers, seniors Kamesha Hairston and Fatima Maddox scored 18 and nine points, respectively, as the Owls dropped Saint Louis, 74-64, in an Atlantic 10 contest Thursday night at the Liacouras Center. En route to winning their 17th game in the last 18 outings, the Cherry and White improve to 21-5 overall and remain unbeaten in conference play, at 11-0, while the Billikens fall to 11-14 overall and 3-8 in the Atlantic 10.
Hairston, an All-America candidate and the Atlantic 10's top scorer at 20.1 points per contest, shot 7-for-15 from the floor while Maddox shot 4-for-10 and dished four assists. In another energy-filled outing off the bench, freshman forward Jasmine Stone grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds while scoring nine points in 21 minutes. Junior center Lady Comfort, ranked second among all conference scorers in field goal percentage (54.8) entering the night's game, posted 10 points while freshman guard LaKeisha Eaddy dropped a game-high five assists.
The Billikens were led by the guard combo of freshmen Theresa Lisch and Katie Paganelli. Despite fighting shooting woes all night, Paganelli tallied 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting while Lisch added 17 points on a 5-for-18 clip from the field. In an efficient effort off the bench, redshirt-freshman center Amanda Kemezys shot 5-for-9 from the field en route to 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Owls, having 54 percent from the field for the game, appeared to have everything in cruise control in holding a game-high 22-point second half lead, but just as the hosts were ready to lock all windows and doors, the Billikens used a 17-6 run to cut the lead to single-digits, at 56-47, with just under 10 minutes remaining. However, the Owls responded, despite a season-high 29 turnovers, with a 9-2 spurt of their own that pushed the advantage back to 16 points at the 6:17 mark and allowed all second-guessers to swallow their concerns.
While never trailing the entire contest, the Cherry and White used an 18-5 run, coupled with a seven-minute field goal drought from the Billikens, in grabbing a commanding 31-12 lead with just over five minutes left in the first half. As nine Temple players found the scoring column in the first stanza, Maddox led all scorers with nine points on four-for-eight shooting while Stone grabbed a game-high six caroms. Hairston shot three-for-eight from the field in scoring six points and posting three rebounds.
Saint Louis was plagued by a 25.8 percent shooting clip in the first half. Lisch struggled from the opening whistle shooting 2-for-11 from the field en route to six points. However, Second-year head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller had Kemezys to thank for only a 17-point deficit, 40-23, at the intermission. Kemezys came off a bench to score a team-leading eight points, including three-for-four shooting, while collecting five rebounds.
The Cherry and White resume action in taking its unblemished conference mark to the road Sunday night at Charlotte. The game, set to tip at 6:30 p.m., can be seen on ESPNU.
