Temple University Athletics
Women's Basketball Falls, 47-42, To Xavier In Atlantic 10 Championship
3.10.08 | Women's Basketball
March 10, 2008
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PHILADELPHIA- Ashley Morris scored 12 points and Shanea Cotton added 10 more but it was not enough to offset a seven minute field goal drought late in the second half as the Temple women's basketball team fell, 47-42, to Xavier (24-8) in the championship game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Lady Comfort led Temple with 11 rebounds and four blocks as the Owls fall to 22-12 on the season. Comfort and Morris were voted to the All-Tournament Team.
The game truly was a defensive battle as neither team shot particularly well. Temple making just 25.4% of their shots and Xavier went 15-for-44 from the field. The Owls grabbed 42 rebounds to the Musketeers' 39 and had 22 points in the paint, as opposed to XU's 18. Jasmine Stone and Comfort were extremely strong in the lane, doing an admirable job on All-American candidates Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips. The pair finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Temple's defense held Xavier without a field goal until 15:30 in the first half, thanks to strong post defense by Comfort. Cotton got Temple on the board with a lay-up at 19:36 and began a 5-0 run for the Owls. Phillips gave the Musketeers their first point with a free throw at 17:09 and Jerri Taylor added two more from the charity stripe to make it 5-3 but Temple continued to hold a five point lead (10-5) by the 15 minute mark. Xavier began to produce on offense and put together a 7-1 run that put them on top 12-11 with 12 minutes remaining. A trey by Lindsay Kimmel at 9:15 gave the Owls their first basket in four minutes and the lead back yet again. The teams traded a two-point lead for the next five minutes, thanks in part to four straight points by Stone. A 4-0 Temple run gave the Cherry and White a three-point advantage (22-19) with three minutes remaining but that would be as much room as Xavier would give them for the remainder of the half, as the Owls took a 24-21 lead at the break.
Temple began the half with a turnover and a foul, allowing Xavier to go on a 4-0 run and take a 25-24 lead. Comfort finally got the Owls on the second half board with a jumper at 18:28 to put Temple back on top by one point but Xavier quickly responded to take back the lead. The game continued to be tight for the next few minutes, with neither team able to make a huge run. A 6-2 Temple run gave the Owls a 34-29 lead at the 14 minute mark but the Musketeers were not far behind. XU capitalized on a three-minute scoring drought to close the gap to one point (34-33) at the 11 minute mark. A one point differential held for the next six minutes, though the Owls were able to stay on top. That was until they suffered a four minute scoring drought. Two free throws by Amber Harris sparked a 6-0 run that made it 44-39 in favor of Xavier with 3:45 remaining. Stone made one of two free throws at 3:21 to give Temple its first points in over four minutes but the Owls failed to capitalize on three straight Xavier turnovers and remained four points behind (44-40) with 51.8 seconds left to play. Shanea Cotton's put-back jumper with 33 seconds remaining gave TU its first field goal in seven minutes but Xavier iced three free throws down the stretch to earn the 47-42 win.
Taylor led all scorers with 14 points, while Harris had five blocks.
Temple now waits to see if the NCAA selection committee feels that they did enough for an at-large bid. The Selection Monday show takes place on March 17 and can be seen on ESPN at 7 p.m.
