Temple University Athletics
Temple Rallies for A-10 Regular Season Title But Falls Short at #9 George Washington, 56-53
2.25.07 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The weather outside was frightful but the action in the Smith Center was delightful as Temple (23-6, 13-1) and #9 George Washington put on a strong fight in the race to finish unbeaten in the Atlantic 10 regular season. Fatima Maddox led the Owls with 17 points and Kamesha Hairston earned a double-double (13 points and 13 rebounds) but it was not enough as Sarah Jo Lawrence led the Colonials to their sixth straight regular A-10 title and a #1 seed in the 2007 A-10 Tournament, 59-56. Lawrence netted 19 points, including 14 in the first half, to lead the Colonials (25-2, 14-0 A-10). Lady Comfort was also in double figures, grabbing 13 rebounds.
The Owls were dominant on the boards (48-27) but it was not enough to overcome a horrid day at the free throw line (9-for-19) and 19 turnovers. Temple's nagging turnover problem (15) and poor shooting percentage (38.5%) gave it a six point halftime deficit (26-22) but a huge second half by Shenita Landry and Maddox put the game within reach. Maddox had 13 points in the second stanza, while Landry added eight but Temple continued to struggle from the field and the free throw line, finishing 21-for-59 from the field.
"You have to take the good with the bad with our team, and I'm glad we came back and took better care of the basketball," said Head Coach Dawn Staley. "But there are other ways that we could have won this game... You look at the stats--we should have won this game. But you need to put the ball in the hole; we didn't do that, though we had ample opportunities."
Sarah Joe Lawrence was the entire Colonial offense throughout most of the first half, netting 14 of GW's 26 points and the first 11 to keep pace with the red hot Owls who raced out to a 4-0 lead. In fact, it wasn't until 7:55 that someone other than Lawrence scored. The game was very physical in the opening minutes, thanks to two technical fouls called on George Washington, but no one in the packed stands really expected it to be any different. Lawrence finally got the Colonials on the board with a trey at the 18 minute mark and then tied the game at five after Temple went scoreless for just over three minutes. The Owls got back on track with an 8-2 run to make 13-9 at 9:18 but Lawrence kept plugging away and kept her team within two points. A basket by Jessica Adair with just under eight minutes to go finally took the scoring load off of Lawrence and it seemed to inspire the other players as a three-point play at 7:06 gave GW its first lead of the game (16-15). After a hot start, the Owls began to break down. Unable to score and after earning four straight turnovers, the Colonials went on a 10-5 run to take a 26-22 lead at halftime. Rebounding was again the Owls lone bright spot, as they out-rebounded the Colonials, 24-10.Maddox struck first in the second half but the Colonials answered right back to preserve the six-point advantage. A 4-0 Landry run cut GW's lead to just three points (31-29) at the 16 minute mark and the Owls added three more to cut the lead to just one (33-32) at 15:32. As the game became more physical, the Owls began to earn more and more trips to the free throw line but could not convert. Temple missed the opportunity for six free points and the Colonials opened up a six point lead (39-33) at the 11 minute mark. Two free throws by LaKeisha Eaddy cut the Colonial lead to just three points (40-37) at 8:41 and though GW scored on each trip down the floor, the Owls keep plugging away and were able to get within one point (46-45) at 5:40. A huge trey by Maddox at the three minute mark tied the game at 50 but Kenan Cole answered with a jumper of her own to put the Colonials back on top 52-50 with just 2 minutes remaining. As hard as the Owls tried they just could not get a shot to drop and they soon found themselves in a five-point hole (55-50) with just 30 seconds to play. Hairston was not about to let her team go down without a fight and drained a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds remaining to make it 56-53. But it was not enough as the Colonials took the game, 56-53.
Eaddy dished a team-high four assists in the loss, while Landry had nine rebounds.
Whitney Allen scored eight points for GW and Jessica Adair had eight rebounds in supporting roles.
Temple next looks to defend its Atlantic 10 crown as the #2 seed at the 2007 A-10 Tournament, March 3-6 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cherry and White face the winner of the St. Bonaventure/Massachusetts game on Saturday, March 3 at 4 p.m.
