Temple University Athletics
Friday, March 8
Philadelphia, Pa.
5:00 PM
Temple University
vs
Xavier (A-10 First Round)
Photo by: Mitchell Leff
Women's Basketball Set to Face Xavier in the 2013 Buick Atlantic 10 Championship First Round on Friday
3.7.13 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes l Live Stats l Webcast l A-10 Tournament Central l Ticket Information
PHILADELPHIA - The 2013 Buick Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship begins on Friday, March 8 at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena, and 10th-seeded Temple will face seventh-seeded Xavier in a first round game at 5:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face second-seeded Charlotte at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Temple (12-17, 5-9) and Xavier (13-15, 7-7) will be meeting for the second time this season. The Owls let a win slip away back on Feb. 20, leading by five points with 1:30 remaining but losing 54-53 to the Musketeers.
THE OPENING TIP
•Temple enters the Atlantic 10 Tournament as an underdog against its first opponent for the first time since 1998, and will play in the first round for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
•The Owls have lost five straight, with the second of those being to Xavier by a narrow score of 54-53 on Feb. 20.
•Victoria Macaulay recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds in a recent, 59-55 loss at Butler on Feb. 27...The Owls suffered a blow when she fouled out with two minutes remaining.
•The Owls were within nine points of #14/14 Dayton with seven minutes remaining, but allowed a big closing run by the Flyers in a 67-47 loss on Feb. 24...Temple's 26 turnovers led to a 31-6 edge in points off turnovers by Dayton.
•Three of Temple's recent losses were close, starting with a 49-41 OT loss at Saint Joseph's on Feb. 17 followed by a one-point, 54-53 loss to Xavier on Feb. 20...On Feb. 27, the Owls lost at Butler by four points, 59-55.
•The Owls led Xavier by five points with a minute and half remaining, but a turnover with nine seconds left allowed the Musketeers to score the game-winning layup...Temple was unable to get a clean shot off in the final six seconds.
•In the Owls' most recent win they defeated Rhode Island at home, 56-45 on Feb. 13...Three players scored in double figures, led by Sally Kabengano with 14 points, and Victoria Macaulay with her 10th double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
•Temple ranks 14th among all teams in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal defense at 25.5 percent.
•Macaulay ranks 10th in the nation with 2.86 blocks per game, and has blocked five or more shots in five of the last eight games.
•Over the last eight games, redshirt junior Natasha Thames has averaged 10.5 rebounds per game...She grabbed a career-high 18 boards at #14/14 Dayton (Feb. 24) and recorded 15 rebounds at Charlotte (Feb. 6).
•Before this year, the Owls had not lost back-to-back Atlantic 10 games since the 2002-03 season...The nine conference losses are the most since Temple went 5-11 in the A-10 in 1999-2000.
•Temple has six freshmen on a roster of 11, making the Owls the second-most inexperienced team in NCAA Division I women's basketball this season (San Jose State is in the top spot).
SCOUTING XAVIER
Xavier is 13-15 overall and finished at 7-7 in the A-10. The Musketeers lost eight straight from Dec. 29 through the end of January, but have since won seven of the last eight including six in a row. Amber Gray leads Xavier with 11.1 ppg, and is one of three players averaging at least 6.1 rpg. Three of her teammates average between 9.2 and 10.2 points per game in a balanced offense for the Musketeers. Head coach Amy Waugh is in her second season at the helm after two years as an assistant.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST XAVIER
Temple and Xavier are meeting for the 25th time. The Owls won a string of six in a row from 2004-07, but the Musketeers have won four of the last five and seven of the last nine. Last year the Owls got a big win in Cincinnati, 64-38, but earlier this season Xavier came away with a narrow, 54-53 win on Feb. 20 at Temple.
LAST TIME VS. XAVIER
Xavier's Jessica Pachko hit a layup with six seconds left to lift her team to victory and hand Temple a 54-53 loss on Feb. 20 at McGonigle Hall. The Owls let a five-point lead slip away in the final minute and 30 seconds, but it was a tight game throughout with neither team ever leading by more than six.
Victoria Macaulay led all scorers with 15 points, and Rateska Brown added 12 off the bench for the Owls. Temple tied its season-high with 14 steals, but the rewards were negated by some of its 17 turnovers which came at inopportune times.
PAST A-10 TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
It has been seven years since the Owls captured an Atlantic 10 Tournament title (2005-06). All-time, Temple has won four titles (2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06). Three years ago the Owls barely missed out, losing 57-55 in overtime to #5/5 Xavier in the final.
Two years ago Temple was the second seed, but the Owls were upset by sixth-seeded Dayton, 75-67 in the semifinals after defeating St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals. Temple was once again the second seed last season, but lost to Dayton yet again in the semifinals, 66-63, after defeating Duquesne in the quarterfinals.
MACAULAY MOVES INTO REBOUNDING TOP 10
Senior center Victoria Macaulay now ranks 10th all-time in program history in career rebounds with 706. More than a third of those are from this season alone (266) and while she is only averaging 5.7 rpg for her career, she leads the Owls with 9.2 rpg this season.
BIGTIME BLOCKING
The Owls put on a blocking clinic in their win vs. Saint Louis. As a team they blocked 13 shots, just two shy of the program record set in 1987. Victoria Macaulay blocked a career-high nine shots, also two shy of the program record, set in the same game in 1987. With 203 career blocks, Macaulay sits alone in fourth place all-time. She has blocked at least five shots in five of the last eight games, and currently ranks 10th among all players in NCAA Division I with 2.86 blocks per game.
BACKING IN
Despite five straight losses entering the A-10 Tournament, the Owls earned a berth due to some success earlier in the conference season. Temple won five of its first nine league games which proved to be enough to secure a spot.
LOW SEED HISTORY
The lowest seed to ever win the women's A-10 Tournament was #5-seeded West Virginia in 1989, with a 63-54 victory against #3-seeded Temple. The lowest seed to make it to the final game in the last 10 years was #5-seeded Saint Joseph's in 2007.
THREE STREAKS BROKEN
Over the course of the A-10 season, Temple suffered losses to three teams it had long streaks of success against. After defeating La Salle 14 straight times dating back to 1999-2000, the Owls could not keep that streak alive as they suffered a 71-55 loss on Jan. 27. Little went right for Temple throughout the game, and 27 turnovers led to a 28-8 edge for La Salle in points off turnovers.
The Owls' streak of wins against Saint Joseph's, which had reached 13, ended on Feb. 17 in overtime at Hagan Arena. It was the first OT game of the year for the Owls, and the extra period did not match up to the intensity of the rest of the game. The Owls got the first bucket but did not score again, losing the game 49-41.
The final streak to be broken came at the hands of Fordham on March 3. Temple had won 18 straight against the Rams dating back to 1999-2000, but a lackluster second half that saw the Owls score just 17 points was not enough to keep it close.
DOWNTOWN DEFENDERS
The Owls were stingy on three-point defense all season, and they rank 14th in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal defense at 25.5%. They held Richmond to a single trey in 15 attempts on Jan. 31, held UMass to 3-of-18 (16.7%) from behind the arc on Feb. 3, held Charlotte to 2-of-10 shooting (20%) from three-point range on Feb. 6, and held Saint Joseph's to just 1-of-8 on Feb. 17.
PHILADELPHIA - The 2013 Buick Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship begins on Friday, March 8 at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena, and 10th-seeded Temple will face seventh-seeded Xavier in a first round game at 5:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face second-seeded Charlotte at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Temple (12-17, 5-9) and Xavier (13-15, 7-7) will be meeting for the second time this season. The Owls let a win slip away back on Feb. 20, leading by five points with 1:30 remaining but losing 54-53 to the Musketeers.
THE OPENING TIP
•Temple enters the Atlantic 10 Tournament as an underdog against its first opponent for the first time since 1998, and will play in the first round for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
•The Owls have lost five straight, with the second of those being to Xavier by a narrow score of 54-53 on Feb. 20.
•Victoria Macaulay recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds in a recent, 59-55 loss at Butler on Feb. 27...The Owls suffered a blow when she fouled out with two minutes remaining.
•The Owls were within nine points of #14/14 Dayton with seven minutes remaining, but allowed a big closing run by the Flyers in a 67-47 loss on Feb. 24...Temple's 26 turnovers led to a 31-6 edge in points off turnovers by Dayton.
•Three of Temple's recent losses were close, starting with a 49-41 OT loss at Saint Joseph's on Feb. 17 followed by a one-point, 54-53 loss to Xavier on Feb. 20...On Feb. 27, the Owls lost at Butler by four points, 59-55.
•The Owls led Xavier by five points with a minute and half remaining, but a turnover with nine seconds left allowed the Musketeers to score the game-winning layup...Temple was unable to get a clean shot off in the final six seconds.
•In the Owls' most recent win they defeated Rhode Island at home, 56-45 on Feb. 13...Three players scored in double figures, led by Sally Kabengano with 14 points, and Victoria Macaulay with her 10th double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
•Temple ranks 14th among all teams in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal defense at 25.5 percent.
•Macaulay ranks 10th in the nation with 2.86 blocks per game, and has blocked five or more shots in five of the last eight games.
•Over the last eight games, redshirt junior Natasha Thames has averaged 10.5 rebounds per game...She grabbed a career-high 18 boards at #14/14 Dayton (Feb. 24) and recorded 15 rebounds at Charlotte (Feb. 6).
•Before this year, the Owls had not lost back-to-back Atlantic 10 games since the 2002-03 season...The nine conference losses are the most since Temple went 5-11 in the A-10 in 1999-2000.
•Temple has six freshmen on a roster of 11, making the Owls the second-most inexperienced team in NCAA Division I women's basketball this season (San Jose State is in the top spot).
SCOUTING XAVIER
Xavier is 13-15 overall and finished at 7-7 in the A-10. The Musketeers lost eight straight from Dec. 29 through the end of January, but have since won seven of the last eight including six in a row. Amber Gray leads Xavier with 11.1 ppg, and is one of three players averaging at least 6.1 rpg. Three of her teammates average between 9.2 and 10.2 points per game in a balanced offense for the Musketeers. Head coach Amy Waugh is in her second season at the helm after two years as an assistant.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST XAVIER
Temple and Xavier are meeting for the 25th time. The Owls won a string of six in a row from 2004-07, but the Musketeers have won four of the last five and seven of the last nine. Last year the Owls got a big win in Cincinnati, 64-38, but earlier this season Xavier came away with a narrow, 54-53 win on Feb. 20 at Temple.
LAST TIME VS. XAVIER
Xavier's Jessica Pachko hit a layup with six seconds left to lift her team to victory and hand Temple a 54-53 loss on Feb. 20 at McGonigle Hall. The Owls let a five-point lead slip away in the final minute and 30 seconds, but it was a tight game throughout with neither team ever leading by more than six.
Victoria Macaulay led all scorers with 15 points, and Rateska Brown added 12 off the bench for the Owls. Temple tied its season-high with 14 steals, but the rewards were negated by some of its 17 turnovers which came at inopportune times.
PAST A-10 TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
It has been seven years since the Owls captured an Atlantic 10 Tournament title (2005-06). All-time, Temple has won four titles (2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06). Three years ago the Owls barely missed out, losing 57-55 in overtime to #5/5 Xavier in the final.
Two years ago Temple was the second seed, but the Owls were upset by sixth-seeded Dayton, 75-67 in the semifinals after defeating St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals. Temple was once again the second seed last season, but lost to Dayton yet again in the semifinals, 66-63, after defeating Duquesne in the quarterfinals.
MACAULAY MOVES INTO REBOUNDING TOP 10
Senior center Victoria Macaulay now ranks 10th all-time in program history in career rebounds with 706. More than a third of those are from this season alone (266) and while she is only averaging 5.7 rpg for her career, she leads the Owls with 9.2 rpg this season.
BIGTIME BLOCKING
The Owls put on a blocking clinic in their win vs. Saint Louis. As a team they blocked 13 shots, just two shy of the program record set in 1987. Victoria Macaulay blocked a career-high nine shots, also two shy of the program record, set in the same game in 1987. With 203 career blocks, Macaulay sits alone in fourth place all-time. She has blocked at least five shots in five of the last eight games, and currently ranks 10th among all players in NCAA Division I with 2.86 blocks per game.
BACKING IN
Despite five straight losses entering the A-10 Tournament, the Owls earned a berth due to some success earlier in the conference season. Temple won five of its first nine league games which proved to be enough to secure a spot.
LOW SEED HISTORY
The lowest seed to ever win the women's A-10 Tournament was #5-seeded West Virginia in 1989, with a 63-54 victory against #3-seeded Temple. The lowest seed to make it to the final game in the last 10 years was #5-seeded Saint Joseph's in 2007.
THREE STREAKS BROKEN
Over the course of the A-10 season, Temple suffered losses to three teams it had long streaks of success against. After defeating La Salle 14 straight times dating back to 1999-2000, the Owls could not keep that streak alive as they suffered a 71-55 loss on Jan. 27. Little went right for Temple throughout the game, and 27 turnovers led to a 28-8 edge for La Salle in points off turnovers.
The Owls' streak of wins against Saint Joseph's, which had reached 13, ended on Feb. 17 in overtime at Hagan Arena. It was the first OT game of the year for the Owls, and the extra period did not match up to the intensity of the rest of the game. The Owls got the first bucket but did not score again, losing the game 49-41.
The final streak to be broken came at the hands of Fordham on March 3. Temple had won 18 straight against the Rams dating back to 1999-2000, but a lackluster second half that saw the Owls score just 17 points was not enough to keep it close.
DOWNTOWN DEFENDERS
The Owls were stingy on three-point defense all season, and they rank 14th in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal defense at 25.5%. They held Richmond to a single trey in 15 attempts on Jan. 31, held UMass to 3-of-18 (16.7%) from behind the arc on Feb. 3, held Charlotte to 2-of-10 shooting (20%) from three-point range on Feb. 6, and held Saint Joseph's to just 1-of-8 on Feb. 17.
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