Temple University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Spiders Saturday At 2 p.m.
2.20.09 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2009
PHILADELPHIA- The Temple women's basketball team (17-8, 8-3 A-10) hosts the Richmond Spiders (19-7, 7-4 A-10) in a crucial Atlantic 10 contest on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Owls are currently in a three-way tie for third place in the A-10 standings, while the Spiders are hot on their heels in the fourth spot.
Series Record
This is the 12th meeting between Temple and Richmond with Temple leading the series, 8-3. The teams last played on March 8, 2008, when the Owls defeated the Spiders, 70-62.
Scouting the Owls
Shenita Landry's block with three seconds remaining ended Charlotte's comeback bid, as Temple earned a hard fought 77-73 victory over Charlotte on Wednesday. Landry led five players in double figures with a career-high 21 points, while Shanea Cotton and LaKeisha Eaddy chipped in with 15 points apiece. Shaqwedia Wallace contributed 13 points and Kristen McCarthy had 11. Eaddy finished with eight assists for the second straight game and a contest-high three steals to end the 49ers nine-game winning streak. Cotton had a team-high seven rebounds, though Charlotte won the rebounding battle, 33-25. Both teams shot extremely well, as Temple finished with a 53.1% shooting clip and Charlotte made 49% of its shots.
Landry leads four Owls in double figures with 12.5 ppg and a team-high 9.5 rpg, while Wallace and Cotton are tied for second with 11.5 ppg. Eaddy is fourth with 11.0 and has dished a team-high 140 assists.
Scouting the Spiders
Nikita Thomas scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to lead Richmond to a 60-51 victory over DaytonWednesday night. Richmond ended the half with a 34-28 advantage and the Spiders dominated the boards, with a 51-32 edge. Thomas' career night marked the sixth double-double of her career. Brittani Shells led the Spiders with 11 points. Johanna McKnight chipped in with 10 points.
Shells leads the Spiders in scoring with 15.4 ppg, while McKnight is second with 10 ppg. Crystal Goring is Richmond's top rebounder, averaging 7.5 rpg.
Home Conference Cooking
The Owls have won 19 straight home Atlantic 10 games and have lost just one, a 55-50 overtime game to George Washington (2/24/06), since the 2003-04 season. Temple is 41-1 during that stretch.
Forward Progress
Senior Shenita Landry has really upped her output from her junior to senior season, nearly doubling both her scoring and rebounding averages. As a junior, Landry averaged 6.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg and as a senior, she is leading the Owls in both categories with 12.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg.
It's Anybody's Game
With just three regular season games to go, the Atlantic 10 race is really heating up. Xavier is a perfect 11-0 in Conference play and Charlotte is second with a 9-2 mark but third place is a little more complicated. Temple, George Washington and St. Bonaventure are all tied with an 8-3 A-10 record. Richmond is close behind with a 7-4 record.
