Women's Basketball Beats UCF, 75-54

Saturday, January 4

McGonigle Hall

2 PM

Temple University

8-5, 2-1Amer.

UCF

8-6, 1-2Amer.

UCF

TEMPLE

Junior Tyonna Williams

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Women's Basketball Beats UCF, 75-54

1.4.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOXSCORE IN PDF

PHILADELPHIA – Temple women's basketball picked up a 21-point win in American Athletic Conference play with a 75-54 victory over UCF on Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.

The Owls improved to 8-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while the Knights fell to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the league.

In the first half, UCF led for the first 16 minutes of action; its biggest lead was seven points, 8-1. With 4:37 to go in the stanza, senior Shi-Heria Shipp (Salisbury, N.C.) gave TU its first lead, 22-21, on a lay-up. The Owls then went on a 14-2 run to take a six-point lead, 34-28, into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Temple bolted out of the locker room with a 15-2 run to build its lead up to 19 points, 49-30 with 14:13 remaining in the game. The Owls pushed their lead to as many as 24 points, 64-42, before finishing with the win.

Four starters netted double figures, led by junior Tyonna Williams' (Fort Washington, Md.) 19 points. She shot a career-high five three-pointers. Senior Natasha Thames (Port Huron, Mich.) followed with 14 points, while Shipp finished with her third double-double of the season (fourth of career) with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Erica Covile (Detroit, Mich.) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.

"Tyonna was looking to shoot more today," said sixth-year head coach Tonya Cardoza. "We needed her to make some threes, and she took that to heart."

Zykira Lewis led UCF with 13 points. Sara Djassi added 12 points, while Briahanna Jackson and Andrea Hines had 10 points apiece.

"We knew we had to limit Jackson's touches," Cardoza said of UCF's leading scorer. "Tyonna did a good containing her. It was definitely a team effort in holding her (below her 18.4 ppg average)."

Overall, Temple out-rebounded UCF, 44-31. The Owls shot 54 percent (30-56) from the field, while hold the Knights to 31 percent (21-67) shooting.

"We want to have more consistency in winning more games in a row," Cardoza said.

Temple hits the road for two American Athletic Conference games this week. The first stop is USF on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome. The American Digital Network will broadcast the game live online.