Temple University Athletics
Thursday, December 30
Durham, N.C.
7:00 PM
Temple University
64
at
71
Duke
Qwedia Wallace scored a game-high 21 points
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Women’s Basketball Falls Short at #3/3 Duke, 71-64
12.30.10 | Women's Basketball
Owls get 21 points from senior Qwedia Wallace
Box Score (PDF) l Postgame Press Conference Video l Postgame Press Conference Quotes (scroll to end of story)
DURHAM, N.C. – After leading at the half and then cutting a 15-point second half deficit down to four in the final minute, ultimately the Temple women's basketball team fell short at #3/3 Duke (13-0) by a score of 71-64. The Owls (7-6) got a game-high 21 points from Qwedia Wallace and 16 from Satoria Bell.
Marli Bennett led Temple with nine rebounds, and Shey Peddy added a game-high six assists to her 10 points, all scored in the second half.
Karima Christmas led Duke with 20 points and eight rebounds, while three other players also scored in double figures for the Blue Devils, including Jasmine Thomas with 13 points, three blocks and a game-high five steals.
Duke drained its first four attempts en route to a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes, but the Owls battled back to tie the score at 11 thanks to eight points from Wallace.
With Temple down 14-13, the Blue Devils used another 9-2 run to take their largest lead of eight, capped off by a trey from Chloe Wells taken a few feet behind the arc.
Temple battled yet again, using a 7-0 run to pull within a point, 23-22 at 6:30. Bennett hit the Owls' fourth three-pointer of the game a few minutes later to keep Temple within one, 26-25.
Bell gave Temple its first lead of the game, 27-26, on a jumper at 3:33, but it was short-lived after a trey from Shay Selby at the other end just 15 seconds later.
The furious pace continued as Wallace hit a jumper at the other end to tie the game at 29-29. From there the scoring slowed, but it was Wallace who struck again near the one-minute mark to put Temple ahead 31-29, and the Blue Devils hit just one free throw in the final minute as the Owls took a 31-30 lead into the break.
An obstacle for Temple in the first half were eight blocks by the Blue Devils, tying their second-highest single-game total for the season. Duke would go on to finish with a season-best 11 blocks.
Joelle Connelly came off the bench in the first half to record her first career appearance for Temple after transferring from Hofstra midway through the 2009-10 season. Connelly picked up a quick rebound, and later blocked the first shot of the game for the Owls.
The first-half battle of the boards went easily to Temple with a 26-15 advantage, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Temple hit a cold spell to start the second half, going without a point for the first four and a half minutes while Duke built a seven-point lead, 38-31.
Kristen McCarthy ended the drought with a trey and Wallace cut the margin to two with a pair of free throws, but it was as close as Temple would get the rest of the way despite a furious late comeback attempt.
Duke took its first double-digit lead at 8:31, 51-40 after a 13-4 run, and led by as many as 15 down the stretch.
Temple made things interesting in the final minutes thanks to two three-pointers apiece from Peddy and Bell, cutting the margin to six, 68-62 with a minute left, and Peddy capped off the run with a layup to put the Owls within four.
Despite missing four of six free throws in the final 21 seconds, Duke was able to hold off the Owls who missed their only two attempts from the field.
Both teams were in the bonus by halfway through the second period as fouls slowed the pace of the game. Ten of Duke's first 16 second-half points came at the line including eight from Christmas.
Temple will return home for one more non-conference game before starting its Atlantic 10 slate next week. The Owls will face Akron in McGonigle Hall on Sunday, Jan. 2 at noon.
Postgame Press Conference Quotes
Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza
On Temple's performance in first half versus second half:
“I think early on we were able to, you know, get some post touches. When Victoria [Macaulay] was out there we were at least able to keep the defense honest and make them have to guard inside. And we did a really good job of keeping them off the offensive boards. We didn't really allow any transition buckets. In the second half, they got a lot more offensive boards that they scored on and they were able to get out in transition. And then we turned the ball over carelessly. That led to easy baskets.”
On effectiveness of match-up against Duke in first half:
“One thing I feel like is we did a good job of identifying where the shooters were and moving and rotating. In the second half, I think they had [Shay] Selby out there planted in the corner and was able to do that and get some open threes. Again, our guys played a lot of minutes and I know that they were tired. You know, Duke is a very physical team. You know the ACC is just a physical conference and we're probably not really used to that. So just the physicality of it all, I know our guys were just a little worn down. And again, when guys are making shots, that's sort of demoralizing after you working so hard for 20 seconds and they're able to get a shot and knock it in. That sort of deflates you a little bit. But you know, overall I'm proud of my guys for competing. Especially early on when they scored the first couple of baskets, it looked like it was going to be a runaway. But our guys, you know, stepped up and got some easy buckets and kept it close. But again, you know, one thing that we did is [Karima] Christmas and [Shay] Selby, those two guys, those are guys, well, Christmas, she's the same kid that killed us last year. And next year obviously, is she a senior? [yes] Ok, good because our game plan has been the last two years to play off of her because she's the only guy that you can really play off of outside the three-point line. She, every single time, she's murdered us. So, I'm glad she's a senior. She hurts us with her jump shot and she's just so big. You know, she's big, physical and she can put the ball on the floor. She's so strong. You know what, she's bigger than our post players. So when our guards are trying to guard her, she's putting the ball on the floor, there's no way that they can stop her.”
On staying in the game until the last minute:
“Yeah and that's what I'm proud of. That our guys didn't fold. Because you can easily, you know, you come in here, they're ranked third, and they have All-Americans and the fact that we competed down to the very last second, you know, that's what I'm proud of. But again, when you're trying to beat a team on their home court, a team like Duke, you have to everything right. And down the stretch we didn't do everything right.”
On the difference between being in games and finishing games:
“Well the frustrating part is we get up for games like this. We get up for games like Ohio State. We compete in those games and then we go into games that we should win and we don't play with the same intensity. We don't have the same focus to approach the game. So that's something that I just talked to them about. That's the frustrating part. Is because, are we going to get up for Akron the same way we got up for Duke? And that's going to tell how our season ends. You know, how we compete against the teams, how we approach those games, we have to approach those games the same way we approached tonight. But I mean we had the tools to do it but the mentality has to be there every single night. You can't just come into a game and just show up and think that you're going to win because everybody's competing.”
Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“[This was] obviously a very physical game. [It was] a much better game this year than last. I think Temple's a lot better team this year in a lot of ways. It was a very physical game and obviously I would be partial to the second half relative to us being more attacking, better rebounding, finding each other. I thought Karima [Christmas] was attacking pretty strong throughout, but certainly [she] really started being aggressive in the second half. And for Shay [Selby] to come off the bench like she did and be so aggressive and confident and just lift the team like she did, that's very important, very important to have. So there's some very good things out of tonight, most of them occurred in the second half.”
On what message to the team at halftime:
“Urgency was a message. I'm really upset about being outrebounded two games in a row. We got outrebounded by Xavier and now we have against this team. I think that the way we fought and the way we played in the second half, if we had put that together for two halves that would really have been something interesting relative to rebounding. So urgency and being physical and dictating and going after people was sort of the message of the half.”
On the last four minutes of the second half:
“Not good focus there. Some critical shots go up; they're a very good shooting team. We didn't do anything to stop [Qwedia Wallace] in her homecoming. She pretty much had her way with us, which is pretty disappointing. But just being alert and savvy about different things on the floor. We were a little aloof there at the end and that will be something we can look at and learn from.”
Duke senior Karima Christmas:
On Temple's game plan to let her shoot:
“I just took it like any other game. They left me open and I shot it. It's not like I haven't hit shots so I don't know why somebody would play me like that. If I had an open shot I took it, if I had an open lane I took it. I was just in attack mode at all times.”
On the mindset coming out of the first half:
“We tried to come out and be a rebounding force. We were down in the first half in rebounding by double digits so coming out there trying to get offense off the board is what we really tried to do but we just had to let the game come to us. We're mad at ourselves because obviously we could play better in the first half than we did. At the same time, there's another half coming. There's another way for us to pick it up and just keep pushing forward.”
DURHAM, N.C. – After leading at the half and then cutting a 15-point second half deficit down to four in the final minute, ultimately the Temple women's basketball team fell short at #3/3 Duke (13-0) by a score of 71-64. The Owls (7-6) got a game-high 21 points from Qwedia Wallace and 16 from Satoria Bell.
Marli Bennett led Temple with nine rebounds, and Shey Peddy added a game-high six assists to her 10 points, all scored in the second half.
Karima Christmas led Duke with 20 points and eight rebounds, while three other players also scored in double figures for the Blue Devils, including Jasmine Thomas with 13 points, three blocks and a game-high five steals.
Duke drained its first four attempts en route to a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes, but the Owls battled back to tie the score at 11 thanks to eight points from Wallace.
With Temple down 14-13, the Blue Devils used another 9-2 run to take their largest lead of eight, capped off by a trey from Chloe Wells taken a few feet behind the arc.
Temple battled yet again, using a 7-0 run to pull within a point, 23-22 at 6:30. Bennett hit the Owls' fourth three-pointer of the game a few minutes later to keep Temple within one, 26-25.
Bell gave Temple its first lead of the game, 27-26, on a jumper at 3:33, but it was short-lived after a trey from Shay Selby at the other end just 15 seconds later.
The furious pace continued as Wallace hit a jumper at the other end to tie the game at 29-29. From there the scoring slowed, but it was Wallace who struck again near the one-minute mark to put Temple ahead 31-29, and the Blue Devils hit just one free throw in the final minute as the Owls took a 31-30 lead into the break.
An obstacle for Temple in the first half were eight blocks by the Blue Devils, tying their second-highest single-game total for the season. Duke would go on to finish with a season-best 11 blocks.
Joelle Connelly came off the bench in the first half to record her first career appearance for Temple after transferring from Hofstra midway through the 2009-10 season. Connelly picked up a quick rebound, and later blocked the first shot of the game for the Owls.
The first-half battle of the boards went easily to Temple with a 26-15 advantage, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Temple hit a cold spell to start the second half, going without a point for the first four and a half minutes while Duke built a seven-point lead, 38-31.
Kristen McCarthy ended the drought with a trey and Wallace cut the margin to two with a pair of free throws, but it was as close as Temple would get the rest of the way despite a furious late comeback attempt.
Duke took its first double-digit lead at 8:31, 51-40 after a 13-4 run, and led by as many as 15 down the stretch.
Temple made things interesting in the final minutes thanks to two three-pointers apiece from Peddy and Bell, cutting the margin to six, 68-62 with a minute left, and Peddy capped off the run with a layup to put the Owls within four.
Despite missing four of six free throws in the final 21 seconds, Duke was able to hold off the Owls who missed their only two attempts from the field.
Both teams were in the bonus by halfway through the second period as fouls slowed the pace of the game. Ten of Duke's first 16 second-half points came at the line including eight from Christmas.
Temple will return home for one more non-conference game before starting its Atlantic 10 slate next week. The Owls will face Akron in McGonigle Hall on Sunday, Jan. 2 at noon.
Postgame Press Conference Quotes
Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza
On Temple's performance in first half versus second half:
“I think early on we were able to, you know, get some post touches. When Victoria [Macaulay] was out there we were at least able to keep the defense honest and make them have to guard inside. And we did a really good job of keeping them off the offensive boards. We didn't really allow any transition buckets. In the second half, they got a lot more offensive boards that they scored on and they were able to get out in transition. And then we turned the ball over carelessly. That led to easy baskets.”
On effectiveness of match-up against Duke in first half:
“One thing I feel like is we did a good job of identifying where the shooters were and moving and rotating. In the second half, I think they had [Shay] Selby out there planted in the corner and was able to do that and get some open threes. Again, our guys played a lot of minutes and I know that they were tired. You know, Duke is a very physical team. You know the ACC is just a physical conference and we're probably not really used to that. So just the physicality of it all, I know our guys were just a little worn down. And again, when guys are making shots, that's sort of demoralizing after you working so hard for 20 seconds and they're able to get a shot and knock it in. That sort of deflates you a little bit. But you know, overall I'm proud of my guys for competing. Especially early on when they scored the first couple of baskets, it looked like it was going to be a runaway. But our guys, you know, stepped up and got some easy buckets and kept it close. But again, you know, one thing that we did is [Karima] Christmas and [Shay] Selby, those two guys, those are guys, well, Christmas, she's the same kid that killed us last year. And next year obviously, is she a senior? [yes] Ok, good because our game plan has been the last two years to play off of her because she's the only guy that you can really play off of outside the three-point line. She, every single time, she's murdered us. So, I'm glad she's a senior. She hurts us with her jump shot and she's just so big. You know, she's big, physical and she can put the ball on the floor. She's so strong. You know what, she's bigger than our post players. So when our guards are trying to guard her, she's putting the ball on the floor, there's no way that they can stop her.”
On staying in the game until the last minute:
“Yeah and that's what I'm proud of. That our guys didn't fold. Because you can easily, you know, you come in here, they're ranked third, and they have All-Americans and the fact that we competed down to the very last second, you know, that's what I'm proud of. But again, when you're trying to beat a team on their home court, a team like Duke, you have to everything right. And down the stretch we didn't do everything right.”
On the difference between being in games and finishing games:
“Well the frustrating part is we get up for games like this. We get up for games like Ohio State. We compete in those games and then we go into games that we should win and we don't play with the same intensity. We don't have the same focus to approach the game. So that's something that I just talked to them about. That's the frustrating part. Is because, are we going to get up for Akron the same way we got up for Duke? And that's going to tell how our season ends. You know, how we compete against the teams, how we approach those games, we have to approach those games the same way we approached tonight. But I mean we had the tools to do it but the mentality has to be there every single night. You can't just come into a game and just show up and think that you're going to win because everybody's competing.”
Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“[This was] obviously a very physical game. [It was] a much better game this year than last. I think Temple's a lot better team this year in a lot of ways. It was a very physical game and obviously I would be partial to the second half relative to us being more attacking, better rebounding, finding each other. I thought Karima [Christmas] was attacking pretty strong throughout, but certainly [she] really started being aggressive in the second half. And for Shay [Selby] to come off the bench like she did and be so aggressive and confident and just lift the team like she did, that's very important, very important to have. So there's some very good things out of tonight, most of them occurred in the second half.”
On what message to the team at halftime:
“Urgency was a message. I'm really upset about being outrebounded two games in a row. We got outrebounded by Xavier and now we have against this team. I think that the way we fought and the way we played in the second half, if we had put that together for two halves that would really have been something interesting relative to rebounding. So urgency and being physical and dictating and going after people was sort of the message of the half.”
On the last four minutes of the second half:
“Not good focus there. Some critical shots go up; they're a very good shooting team. We didn't do anything to stop [Qwedia Wallace] in her homecoming. She pretty much had her way with us, which is pretty disappointing. But just being alert and savvy about different things on the floor. We were a little aloof there at the end and that will be something we can look at and learn from.”
Duke senior Karima Christmas:
On Temple's game plan to let her shoot:
“I just took it like any other game. They left me open and I shot it. It's not like I haven't hit shots so I don't know why somebody would play me like that. If I had an open shot I took it, if I had an open lane I took it. I was just in attack mode at all times.”
On the mindset coming out of the first half:
“We tried to come out and be a rebounding force. We were down in the first half in rebounding by double digits so coming out there trying to get offense off the board is what we really tried to do but we just had to let the game come to us. We're mad at ourselves because obviously we could play better in the first half than we did. At the same time, there's another half coming. There's another way for us to pick it up and just keep pushing forward.”
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