Temple University Athletics
Temple Women's Basketball Edges Saint Joseph's, 63-60 For Staley's Milestone Win
2.20.08 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2008
PHILADELPHIA- Ashley Morris scored six points in the final minute and 40 seconds to bring the Temple women's basketball team (16-11, 9-2 A-10) back from a six point deficit and earn a 63-60 hard fought win over the Saint Joseph's Hawks (14-12, 6-5 A-10) on Wednesday night. Morris finished with 20 points, 17 of which came in the second half, to give Dawn Staley her 167th career win and allow the Philadelphia native to become the program's all-time winningest coach. Shanea Cotton tied her career-high of 16 points, while LaKeisha Eaddy finished with 15 points. Lady Comfort chipped in with 10 points and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year.
Morris dished a game-high six assists, while Cotton had a game-high three steals.
"I just fight every possession," commented Morris on her second-half performance. "This is what we practice for. We get a defensive stop and then we score, always in that order."
The first half was really a three-player game as Shanea Cotton and LaKeisha Eaddy teamed for 21 of Temple's 28 total points. On the other side, Timisha Gomez netted 15 of SJU's 30 points, including 11 of its 18 by the midway mark. The evenly matched teams took turns putting together a series of 4-0 and 6-0 runs, with neither squad able to get too much of a handle on things. Cotton's lay-up with 30 seconds remaining sparked a 4-0 Owl run to cut Saint Joseph's lead to just two (30-28) going into halftime. Cotton added four rebounds, two blocks and two steals to her performance, while the normally lethal Ashley Morris contributed five assists to the Cherry and White cause.
The second half was much like the first with the teams trading a one-point lead. Morris began the second stanza with a trey to put the Owls on top 31-30 at 19:05 but the Hawks came charging right back to take the lead yet again. A jumper by Lady Comfort at 16:58 put Temple ahead, 37-34, their largest lead of the game but the Hawks did not rest and battled back to reclaim the advantage. In fact, Temple was never able to put too much of a distance between it and the Hawks, forcing the visitors to mostly either enjoy a slim one-point advantage or play catch-up for most of the game. Nearly a two-minute Hawk scoring drought allowed the Owls to tie the game at 49 but SJU's Brittany Ford's three point play just 10 seconds later began a 5-0 run that made it 54-49 with six minutes to play. Morris tried desperately to put her team back on top, taking hit after hit, earning two straight trips to the free throw line. Each time the fatigued senior was unable to convert the front end of one-and-one opportunities, and the game was stuck at 54-52 for over two minutes. Gomez broke the deadlocked score at the free throw line and Ford added two more to make it 58-52 at 3:04. Morris continued to fight and scored five straight points to get Temple within one-point, 60-59, with 1:27 remaining. Marli Bennett stole the ball on the ensuing possession, allowing the Owls one more crack at the lead. Morris made the home team pay, icing yet another trey to make it 62-60 in favor of the Cherry and White with just over a minute to play. Gomez missed a jumper to tie the game but then Temple turned the ball over on the offensive end, allowing the Hawks one more chance with just 33.1 seconds to go. The Temple defense clamped down yet again and with 3.3 seconds remaining, the visitors regained possession. Comfort had a chance to make it a two possession game with 2.5 seconds remaining but one proved to be all she needed as the Owls walked away with the 63-60 win.
Gomez finished with 21 points to lead three players in double figures. Ashley Logue finished with 10 points, as did Ford.
Temple returns home to face Fordham on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first part of a men's and women's double header against the Rams.
