Xavier Edges Temple, 54-53, in Atlantic 10 Semifinal

March 4, 2007

CINCINNATI, OHIO- The Owls and the Musketeers have a long and storied history of photo finishes and today was no different, as host Xavier edged Temple, 54-53, to earn a trip to the Atlantic 10 tournament final. Kamesha Hairston netted a game high 18 points and Shenita Landry grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and three blocks but it was not enough to overcome 15 team turnovers, a cold shooting day and one free throw by Joei Clyburn with eight seconds remaining.

Fatima Maddox and Lady Comfort were also in double figures, scoring 13 and 10 points respectively. Comfort was one board shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. Neither team shot particularly well, with the Owls shooting just 38.6% from the field and the Musketeers going just 23-68 (33.8%).

When the Owls and the Musketeers met earlier this season, it was Temple that came out on top with a 59-58 result.

The first half was extremely tight as the evenly matched teams battled for any slight advantage.  The score was tied four different times, thanks to alternating 4-0 runs by both the Owls and the Musketeers. Shenita Landry and Jasmine Stone were defensive monsters, doing all the dirty work to help the Owls escape with a one-point advantage (26-25) at the break. Landry grabbed eight rebounds, seven of which were defensive, and blocked three Xavier shots, while Stone had four defensive boards and one block in 13 minutes.

LaKeisha Eaddy struck first at 19:35 to begin a 4-0 run and give Temple an early lead. Harris finally got Xavier on the board at 18:20 but the Owls were able to hold a slight two point edge for the next few minutes. The Musketeers were not far behind, however, as a 7-0 run gave Xavier a 13-10 lead with 13 minutes to play. Temple came back again, despite two straight fouls on Lady Comfort, and tied the game at 13 just one minute later. Xavier used a 4-0 run to make it 17-13 at 10:55 but TU matched it and tied it at 17 at 9:45. After another 4-0 TU run, Joei Clyburn broke the five minute Xavier scoring drought at 5:50 and added two free throws to tie the game at 21. The Owls used a 5-0 run to score 26 points but went scoreless for the final three minutes of the half to allow the Musketeers to cut the five point lead to just one at the half.

The second half began with four straight turnovers by both teams but a three-point play by Suntana Granderson at 18:26 put Xavier on top, 28-26. Hairston finally got Temple on the second stanza board with a jumper at 17:58 and sparked a 12-1 run that put the Owls on top, 38-29 at 12:38. Clyburn ended the six minute Xavier scoring drought with a lay-up at 12:12 and sparked a 10-2 run to the Temple lead to just one point (42-41) at 7:18. Maddox's jumper at 5:26 ended the Owls' five and a half minute scoring drought but the Musketeers refused to go down and took a 49-46 lead with 2:37 left to play. Hairston was not able to sit back and allow her team to go down without a fight and converted a three-point play with 1:34 to play to tie the game at 51. With time winding down each possession was critical. Clyburn sank a jumper with 30.9 seconds remaining to put Xavier on top, 53-51. With just a .08 differential between the shot and game clocks, the Owls needed a big play. Hairston came through again with a jumper to tie the game at 53 with 11.4 seconds to go but foul was called on Landry, putting Clyburn on the line and giving her one last chance to win the game in regulation. She made just one of two free throws to make it 54-53 but the Owls still had 4.9 seconds to get a shot off. Hairston could not get her shot to drop and the Musketeers earned the trip to the A-10 final.

Clyburn finished with 15 points and Granderson had 11 to round out double figure scorers for Xavier. A-10 Rookie of the Year Amber Harris had a balanced game with nine rebounds, six points, three blocks and one steal.

Temple finishes its season with a 24-7 overall record and will now await its fate in either the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments.

2006-07 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Kamesha Hairston was named to the All-Tournament team.

Temple University Athletics

Xavier Edges Temple, 54-53, in Atlantic 10 Semifinal

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