Temple University Athletics
Temple Women's Basketball Falls To Miami University, 70-53
1.2.08 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2008
OXFORD, OH - Twenty-three turnovers and 24 fouls. Though Kristie Watkins-Day did an admirable job with 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds, it was not enough to offset those glaringly high numbers as Temple fell, 70-53, to the Miami RedHawks on Wednesday night. The Owls return to Philadelphia with a 7-8 overall record, while Miami improves to 8-6.
Shenita Landry nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while TU leading scorer Ashley Morris dished a career-high nine assists to go along with her eight points.
RedHawk leading scorer Amanda Jackson netted a game-high 27 points, while Jenna Schone contributed 12. Laura Markwood grabbed a game-high 10 boards.
Though the Owls shot nearly 40% from the floor, Miami committed just eight turnovers and 18 fouls to earn the win.
Temple started off the game with three straight turnovers but was able to hold off the RedHawks until the 16:50 mark. Shenita Landry made the second of two free throws for the Owls' first point at the 17 minute mark and Lady Comfort added two more at 14:56 but it wasn't until 12:52 that they scored their first field goal. Luckily for the Owls, the RedHawks weren't shooting too well and the three point play by Landry at 12:52 tied the game at six. That would be the last field goal that Temple would see for over three minutes, as the RedHawks went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with just over nine minutes to play. Shanea Cotton finally ended the scoring drought with a lay-up at 9:10 and a three-point play by Watkins-Day just 30 seconds later tied the game yet again (11-11). The Owls struggled to keep up with Miami for the remainder of the half and found themselves down by six points (25-19) thanks to eight straight points by RedHawk leading scorer Amanda Jackson. Watkins-Day cut the deficit to four points (25-21) with a basket with a minute and a half remaining but one more Miami bucket made it a six point game (27-21) going into halftime. Ironically, Temple shot much well from the field, making 40% of their shots as opposed to Miami's 27.5% but turnovers yet again seemed to be the issue, as the Owls made 13 miscues to the RedHawks' two.
TU started off the second half with two more turnovers, allowing Miami to extend its lead to 12 points (33-21) by 18:19. Landry finally got Temple on the second half board at 17:28, but that would be the last field goal that the Owls would score for nearly 10 minutes. Miami continued to roll, increasing its lead to 20 points (48-28) by 9:15. Landry's three-point play sparked a 16-10 TU run that got the Owls within 11 points (55-44) with just over five minutes to play. Temple continued to hang on and a Cotton lay-in at 4:05 made it a 10-point game (58-48), the closest it had been since the opening minutes of the half. That would be as close as Temple could come however, as the RedHawks rolled to the 70-53 win.
Temple closes out its non-conference schedule on Saturday when it hosts Florida at the Liacouras Center at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet and will be broadcast on 1210 AM WPHT.
