Women's Basketball Falls Short in OT Battle with Saint Joseph's

Tuesday, November 18

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

1-1, 1-1Big 5

Saint Joseph's

1-1, 1-0Big 5

OT 1

Temple

Saint Joseph's

Alliya Butts Scored 22 Points for the Owls

Women's Basketball Falls Short in OT Battle with Saint Joseph's

11.18.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Temple women's basketball fell just short, dropping a 78-74 overtime game on the road at Saint Joseph's in Big 5 action on Tuesday night. The Owls even their record to 1-1, as do the Hawks, who rebounded from a season-opening loss.

Temple's Alliya Butts led the Owl offense, scoring 22 points in just her second collegiate game. The rookie also added five assists and five boards in the loss. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald had 18 points, four rebounds, and four assists for the Owls, while freshman Tanaya Atkinson collected her first double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. Sophomore Safiya Martin also added a double-double pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 10 points and a pair of blocks.

The teams traded threes to open the game, with Fitzpatrick scoring for SJU and Atkinson matching the effort for the Owls. Temple then took over, holding the lead for nearly 18 minutes of play. The Owls eventually went up by eight on a Fitzgerald jumper, making it 16-8 with 12:04 on the clock.

SJU cut the lead to six on two occasions, before the Owls used a 12-4 run to open their largest lead of the half, 28-17, on a Butts lay-up with 6:03 to the break. Saint Joseph's slowly chipped away, and with the Owls hampered by fouls down the stretch, the hosts took a 31-28 lead on a a Robinson free throw.

Temple got a final surge from Butts to close the half as she assisted Martin on a bucket and then added a three to wrap the action and cut the SJU lead to 34-33 at the break. Butts led all players with 12 at the break, while Atkinson had eight -- as did the Hawks' Fairbanks and Andrews.

"I thought we came out and played hard for the start," said head coach Tonya Cardoza. "We took an early lead, but then our defense broke down and we committed a lot of fouls and got into trouble."

Early in the second half, the hosts increased their edge to four, before a three from Atkinson and a fast-break lay-up from Williams put Temple ahead, 39-38.

The game stayed within three until midway through the half when five straight points from SJU's Fitzpatrick gave the Hawks a 55-47 lead with 8:17 to play. Temple closed the gap a bit with a Covile bucket, but Fitzpatrick again answered for Saint Joseph's, banking a jumper to push the lead back to eight at 57-49.

Temple surged after that, scoring five straight with an Atkinson bucket and three free throws from Butts, cutting the lead to 59-56. A SJU free throw made it 60-56, before Fitzgerald added three straight to make it a one point deficit at 60-59.

The teams again traded buckets before a stop at the defensive end and a great second chance play put Martin on the line for the Owls. She sunk both, giving Temple its first lead of the half at 63-62 with under 50 seconds to play.

Saint Joseph's got an Andrews bucket the next trip down the court, regaining the lead, 64-63 with under 36 seconds remaining. Temple answered with a FT from Butts to tie it at 64-64, and SJU missed a last second put-back to send the game into OT, knotted at 64-64.

Temple played down in the first half of the extra session, but tied it at 68-68 on an Atkinson lay-up with 2:49 to play. The Hawks led by three at a pair of Cloud free throws, before made it a one-point game at 75-74 on a lay-up from Fitzgerald with 19 to play.

Temple needed to foul on the next possession and SJU sunk both to take a 77-74 lead. The Owls had a chance at the game-tying three, but the attempt was just short and the Hawks added a free throw to set the final to 78-74.

"Saint Joesph's is a veteran team and we're small on the inside, so they took advantage of that," added Cardoza. "We needed to slow it down and take what they gave us, so that's what we'll be looking to do in the future."

The Owls will now head to Lawrence, Kan. this weekend, playing in the Hall of Fame Challenge at KU. Temple takes on Georgetown, Kansas, and Alabama in the tournament, playing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Box Score (PDF)