Temple University Athletics
Wednesday, February 23
Philadelphia, Pa.
7:00 PM
Temple University
52
at
49
Saint Joseph's
Kristen McCarthy led all players with 16 points
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Women's Basketball Edges Saint Joseph's to Win Big 5 Championship
2.23.11 | Women's Basketball
Owls erase seven-point halftime deficit to win 15th straight and city series title
Box Score (PDF) l Video Highlights and postgame comments
PHILADELPHIA – After coming back from a seven-point halftime deficit, the Temple women's basketball team edged Saint Joseph's (17-10, 7-6) by a score of 52-49 to win the 2010-11 Big 5 Championship. The Owls (22-6, 13-0) remain undefeated in the Atlantic 10 and will face a Sunday showdown against #6 Xavier, also undefeated.
Qwedia Wallace hit Temple's only three-pointer of the game with 25 seconds remaining to turn a one-point lead into a four-point lead, and after Shey Peddy went 2-of-2 at the free throw line, a last-second three from the Hawks was not enough.
The Owls and the Xavier Musketeers will play at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 27 on ESPNU to decide the A-10 regular season champion. Temple has not won the A-10 title since 2006, and had not won the Big 5 title outright since 2008.
Kristen McCarthy led all players with 16 point for Temple, while Wallace finished with 15 and Peddy scored 10.
Ashley Prim came off the bench for a team-high 12 points for Saint Joseph's, while Kelly Cavallo scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Both teams got off to a hot-shooting start in a game that saw five ties in the first 10 minutes, the last at 15-15. Temple held a brief, 17-15 lead before going ice cold over an eight-minute span down the stretch.
Saint Joseph's used a 10-0 run to take a 25-17 lead during the Owls' cold spell, capped by a three-pointer from Dominique Bryant.
Peddy finally got Temple on the board again with a minute left in the half, converting an old-fashioned three-point play to narrow the margin to five, 25-20. The Hawks, who suffered their own drought over the final four minutes, scored the final bucket of the half to take a 27-20 lead into halftime.
Temple's first half shooting percentage of 25.7 was its worst in an opening half this season, but the Owls were able to force 11 turnovers while committing just three.
The Owls quickly turned things around in the second half, opening with a 13-2 run to take a four-point, 33-29 lead less than five minutes in. The Hawks scored just one bucket in almost the first seven minutes before picking up the pace.
Temple led by just a point, 39-38 close to the midway point of the second half before going on an 8-0 including a three-point play by McCarthy to take a 47-38 lead at 7:22, its largest lead of the game.
Both teams failed to convert a number of opportunities, and while Temple went scoreless for the next four minutes the Hawks only narrowed the margin by two. But the Owls' cold spell continued and Saint Joseph's eventually cut the lead to just a point, 47-46 with a minute and a half remaining.
Wallace then ended the drought with Temple's first three with just 25 seconds remaining to put the Owls up 50-46. Peddy hit 2-of-2 at the line with eight seconds left to give Temple a comfortable margin of six, and a last-second trey from Saint Joseph's Katie Kuester wasn't enough.
PHILADELPHIA – After coming back from a seven-point halftime deficit, the Temple women's basketball team edged Saint Joseph's (17-10, 7-6) by a score of 52-49 to win the 2010-11 Big 5 Championship. The Owls (22-6, 13-0) remain undefeated in the Atlantic 10 and will face a Sunday showdown against #6 Xavier, also undefeated.
Qwedia Wallace hit Temple's only three-pointer of the game with 25 seconds remaining to turn a one-point lead into a four-point lead, and after Shey Peddy went 2-of-2 at the free throw line, a last-second three from the Hawks was not enough.
The Owls and the Xavier Musketeers will play at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 27 on ESPNU to decide the A-10 regular season champion. Temple has not won the A-10 title since 2006, and had not won the Big 5 title outright since 2008.
Kristen McCarthy led all players with 16 point for Temple, while Wallace finished with 15 and Peddy scored 10.
Ashley Prim came off the bench for a team-high 12 points for Saint Joseph's, while Kelly Cavallo scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Both teams got off to a hot-shooting start in a game that saw five ties in the first 10 minutes, the last at 15-15. Temple held a brief, 17-15 lead before going ice cold over an eight-minute span down the stretch.
Saint Joseph's used a 10-0 run to take a 25-17 lead during the Owls' cold spell, capped by a three-pointer from Dominique Bryant.
Peddy finally got Temple on the board again with a minute left in the half, converting an old-fashioned three-point play to narrow the margin to five, 25-20. The Hawks, who suffered their own drought over the final four minutes, scored the final bucket of the half to take a 27-20 lead into halftime.
Temple's first half shooting percentage of 25.7 was its worst in an opening half this season, but the Owls were able to force 11 turnovers while committing just three.
The Owls quickly turned things around in the second half, opening with a 13-2 run to take a four-point, 33-29 lead less than five minutes in. The Hawks scored just one bucket in almost the first seven minutes before picking up the pace.
Temple led by just a point, 39-38 close to the midway point of the second half before going on an 8-0 including a three-point play by McCarthy to take a 47-38 lead at 7:22, its largest lead of the game.
Both teams failed to convert a number of opportunities, and while Temple went scoreless for the next four minutes the Hawks only narrowed the margin by two. But the Owls' cold spell continued and Saint Joseph's eventually cut the lead to just a point, 47-46 with a minute and a half remaining.
Wallace then ended the drought with Temple's first three with just 25 seconds remaining to put the Owls up 50-46. Peddy hit 2-of-2 at the line with eight seconds left to give Temple a comfortable margin of six, and a last-second trey from Saint Joseph's Katie Kuester wasn't enough.
Post Game Press Conf. vs. Villanova
Monday, November 24
Ep. 24: Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Elvis Forde
Friday, November 21
Ep. 23: Former Men's Basketball Standout Marc Jackson Speaks on Mental Health
Wednesday, November 19
Ep. 22: Owls Sports Update from David & Amelia
Tuesday, November 18
