Temple University Athletics
Morris' Monster Second Half Leads Women's Basketball To 47-40 Win At Richmond
1.23.08 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2008
Richmond, Va.- Down 14 points mid-way through the second half, the Temple women's basketball turned up the defensive pressure, while putting together a 25-4 run to overtake the Richmond Spiders, 47-40, on Wednesday night at the Robins Center. Senior captain Ashley Morris scored 17 points during that stretch to finish with 22 points and lead her team to its third straight victory. Morris was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, making nine of 10, while grabbing seven rebounds and collecting three steals.
LaKeisha Eaddy was also in double figures for Temple, scoring 11 points, while Shanea Cotton had a game-high 10 rebounds. Temple held a slight rebounding edge, 39-32, limiting Richmond to just six offensive boards.
The Owls seemed lost in the first half, making just six-of-26 from the field and committing 10 turnovers. They held a slight rebounding edge (19-18) but the Spiders' 17 defensive rebounds prohibited Temple from getting any sort of real offense going. The second half was a completely different story as the Spiders made just six second-half field goals. TU finished with a 27.3% shooting percentage, though it made just nine second half field goals.
Temple struggled offensively in the opening minutes, unable to score a basket until Shanea Cotton's lay-up at 17:50. Luckily for the Owls, Richmond wasn't doing much better and an Ashley Morris jumper at 16:05 tied the game at four. Unfortunately Temple's offensive woes continued and the Spiders put together a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead with just under 12 minutes to play. LaKeisha Eaddy broke the four minute scoring drought with a jumper at 10:33 but Temple continued to play catch-up thanks to just an 18% shooting percentage and eight turnovers by the three minute mark. Morris hit a trey with just under two minutes to play, giving Temple its first field goal since her previous one at 10:33 and making it 20-14. Temple was unable to find an answer for Joanna McKnight, however, whose eight first half points led Richmond to a 24-16 half-time advantage.
The Spiders began the second half with a trey but Lady Comfort answered with a jumper at 19:25 that began a 4-0 Temple run to make it 27-20 at 18:30. The Spiders continued to dominate, however, holding the Owls without a basket for over five minutes and putting together a 9-2 run to make it 36-22 at 13:20. Sensing the need to take charge, Morris put the team on her back over the next few minutes and scored seven straight points to close the gap to nine points (38-29) at 10:21. Four more points by Eaddy with nine minutes to play got Temple within seven points (38-33), the closest the game had been since mid-way through the first stanza. Temple continued to pressure and extended its 15-2 run to make it a one-point game (38-37) at the six minute mark. The Cherry and White had various chances to either tie the game or take the lead but could not seem to get over the hump until Morris sank two free throws at 2:44, tying the game at 2:26. The senior captain came through again a minute later, making two more from the charity stripe to give Temple its first lead of the game, 41-39, at 1:44. Morris continued to produce from the line to give Temple the 47-40 result.
McKnight was the top scorer for Richmond, keeping her eight points from the first half. Christina Campion had a team-high eight rebounds.
Temple continues its road stand on Sunday with a game at Rhode Island. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. and can be seen on CSTV.
