Women's Basketball Heads to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam; Will Face #5/6 Texas A&M

Saturday, November 26

Freeport, Bahamas

1:00 PM

Temple University

St. John's

Women's Basketball Heads to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam; Will Face #5/6 Texas A&M

11.22.11 | Women's Basketball

Owls set to play two games in the Freeport, Bahamas, tournament

Game Notes vs. Texas A&M (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - It will be an island Thanksgiving for the Temple women's basketball team as the Owls head to Freeport in the Bahamas for the 2011 Junkanoo Jam Tournament this weekend. First up, the Owls (2-2) will face defending NCAA champ #5/6 Texas A&M on Friday, Nov. 25 at 3:15 p.m. The game will be webcast HERE, as will Temple's second game against either Iowa or St. John's on Saturday.

THE OPENING TIP
•Temple is coming off a tough road trip as the Owls suffered a 70-66 loss at #24/25 Ohio State, followed by a 58-52 loss at Northern Illinois...At Ohio State, Temple rallied from a 16-point deficit to pull within two in the final minute, and Temple also pulled within two in the final minute at Northern Illinois.

•Kristen McCarthy led TU with 14 points at Ohio State while Brittany Lewis and BJ Williams scored 13 points apiece...Shey Peddy scored 13 points, all in the second half, to lead the Owls at Northern Illinois, while McCarthy recorded a double-double of 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

•The Owls started the season 2-0 with impressive defensive performances vs. Miami (OH) (70-36) and at Northeastern (72-58)...The Owls out-rebounded Miami 49-32, forcing 26 turnovers while committing just 13 and holding the RedHawks to 27.9 percent shooting from the field (12-of-43)...Temple committed just 11 turnovers at Northeastern and forced 27.

•Peddy led Temple in scoring in both of the Owls' wins, scoring 15 points vs. Miami and 20 at Northeastern...Brittany Lewis set a career high with 12 points vs. Miami and re-set her career high with 18 points at Northeastern along with a career-high eight rebounds.

•Defending NCAA champ #5/6 Texas A&M is 4-0 and won by 18 even in the closest victory against Louisville...The Aggies also have wins vs. Lamar and Mississippi State and road win at UALR...Four players are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Kelsey Bone at 15.5 ppg and a team-best 7.8 rpg...Head Coach Gary Blair earned his 600th career win with the Aggies' most recent victory.

SERIES RECORDS
Temple has never faced either Texas A&M or Iowa in the history of the program. The Owls are tied at 5-5 all-time against St. John's, but the most recent meeting was back in 1999, a 75-70 win for Temple.

LAST TIME IN THE BAHAMAS
Temple has played in the Bahamas one other time, in Nassau in 1997. The Owls defeated one of their possible opponents this weekend, St. John's, 52-48 before losing to Clemson.

TEMPLE VS. THE POLLS
Temple is 12-94 all-time against ranked opponents, but has won seven in the last six years. The Owls are 7-24 since the 2004-05 season. Their most recent win vs. a ranked opponent was Feb. 25, 2009 against #13 Xavier.

McCARTHY IS HEAD OF THE CLASS
On November 4, it was announced that senior Kristen McCarthy was one of 30 candidates selected for the Lowe's 2011-12 Women's Basketball Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes notable achievements in four areas- classroom, character, community and competition.

The 10 finalists will be announced in late January, at which time a national ballot will be available to fans. To learn more, visit the website at www.seniorclassaward.com.

PEDDY THEFT
Shey Peddy set the program's all-time record for steals in a single season last year with 104, recording at least one steal in all but one game. Her 3.2 steals per game ranked second in the A-10 and tied for 10th in NCAA Division I.

PRESEASON RESPECT
Kristen McCarthy and Shey Peddy earned A-10 Preseason honors, as both were named to the First Team. Peddy, an A-10 First Team selection last year, led the Owls with 14.1 ppg. McCarthy was an A-10 Second Team selection a year ago and ranked third on the team with 13.2 ppg.

MCCARTHY MOVES INTO EIGHTH ALL-TIME
With 11 points at Northern Illinois, senior Kristen McCarthy moved into a tie for eighth place on Temple's all-time career scoring list with 1,258 points. She now needs 15 points to move into seventh place on the list.

THREE-POINT STREAK
The final game of the 2008-09 season marked the last time Temple did not hit at least one three-pointer as a team. The Owls have now achieved that feat for 71 straight games.

NO QUIT
Temple has proved its toughness with some big comebacks in recent seasons, and showed it once again on Nov. 18 at #24/25 Ohio State. The Owls were down as many as 16 with 10 minutes left in the second half before cutting that deficit to two in the final minute.

The 26-15 run included nine points by Kristen McCarthy and eight from Shey Peddy including a pair of three-pointers.

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR BRITTANY
Junior Brittany Lewis is already proving she has turned things around this season after seeing limited time on the court in 2010-11. Lewis scored a career-high 12 points in Temple's season opening win vs. Miami (OH), and then re-set her career high with 18 points along with a career-high eight rebounds at Northeastern.

Prior to this year's season opener, the most minutes Lewis had ever played in a collegiate contest was 20, and she has played 30 or more in every game. She is currently one of the team's leaders with 13.0 points per game.

NOW THE TEAM TO BEAT
After four years of finishing higher than predicted in the A-10, the Owls are finally picked first in the conference in a tie with Dayton. Last season Temple was picked third and ended up second, and two years ago the Owls were picked fifth and went on to tie for second.