Temple University Athletics
Sunday, November 30
Uncasville, Conn.
5:00 p.m.
Temple University
81
vs
69
Harvard
Freshman Tanaya Atkinson was named MVP after scoring 20 points and adding seven boards
Photo by: Paige Ozaroski
Women's Basketball Tops Harvard, 81-69
11.30.14 | Women's Basketball
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Temple women's basketball team topped Harvard, 81-69, to close out the 2014 Hall of Fame Tournament Challenge at Mohegan Sun Arena. Freshman Tanaya Atkinson, playing in front of a large hometown crowd, was named MVP, scoring 20 points and adding seven rebounds. The win evens Temple's record to 3-3, while Harvard also moves to 3-3.
The Owls withstood a 23-point, 24-rebound effort from Harvard's Temi Fagbenle with solid defense and hot second-half shooting. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald scored 11 second-half points, leading Temple to a season-best 50% shooting in the half. Fitzgerald finished with 14 points, three assists, and three steals, while senior Tyonna Williams had 10 points (all coming in the second half) and eight assists. Rookie Khadijah Berger scored the first 13 points of her career, including connecting on four of five from three-point range. On the glass, junior Erica Covile led the Owls with 12 boards, while sophomore Safiya Martin pulled down seven.
Head Coach Tonya Cardoza liked the team's resiliency, especially when faced with foul trouble. "Sometimes calls weren't going our way and we could have easily gotten down on ourselves because we were in foul trouble, but we stepped up and guys made big plays," she said. "Khadijah came in off the bench and knocked down some shots. She made her first shots today and we needed every one of them. It was a great team effort."
Temple grabbed an early 9-6 lead after a three from Fitzgerald. Harvard responded with a 6-0 run, taking a 12-9 lead on an Erin McConnell lay-up, at 11:50. The Owls bounced back with a bucket from Martin and back-to-back threes from Berger to regain a 17-12 lead with 9:04 to play.
Harvard used early foul trouble from the Owls to take over the momentum, scoring seven unanswered points to grab a 23-19 edge with 6:16 to play in the half. Temple briefly tied the game after an Atkinson three and a Martin jumper, but Harvard went on another run, this time 9-2, to go up 32-25 with 2:31 on the clock.
Temple used great defense, forcing three Crimson turnovers and converting at the other end to tie the game. Fast break points from Atkinson and Butts sandwiched another Berger trey to make it 32-32 with just over a minute remaining in the half. Harvard then hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to re-gain a slim lead (34-32) heading into the locker room.
At the break, Atkinson led the Owls with 13 points, while Berger had nine. Harvard's Fagbenle reached double-figures in both points (13) and rebounds (13) to complete her double-double in the first 20 minutes of action.
The teams traded leads early in the second half, with neither squad leading by more than three until the Owls got a Williams trey to make it 46-42 with 14:54 on the clock. Harvard battled back to briefly take a 47-45 edge, but a conventional three-point play from Atkinson and a Covile jumper made it 51-47 Temple with 11:43 to play.
Harvard responded with five straight to take a one-point edge (52-51) before Temple put together a 13-0 run that gave the Owls the lead for good. Butts and Williams each had five during the surge, with Temple taking its largest lead of the game at 64-52 with 7:24 to play.
The Crimson made a small 6-2 run to cut the lead to eight, but Temple responded with a 7-2 run, including six points from Fitzgerald, to push the lead to 75-60 with 1:07 to play. Five points from Harvard cut the lead to 10 before Temple sealed the 81-69 win with solid free throw shooting down the stretch.
Cardoza was happy with the team's defense and the overall team effort. "I felt like the defensive effort was a lot better. We had a lot of guys contribute, even things weren't going well for certain people, they stayed with it," she noted. "We always talk about what can you do to help us if you're not making shots, well you can be a good teammate and a good supporter and I felt like all of our players did that today."
Temple now returns to Philadelphia to begin a stretch of four-straight home games. The Owls kick off the home stand with Delaware, taking on the Blue Hens on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.
Box Score (PDF)
The Owls withstood a 23-point, 24-rebound effort from Harvard's Temi Fagbenle with solid defense and hot second-half shooting. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald scored 11 second-half points, leading Temple to a season-best 50% shooting in the half. Fitzgerald finished with 14 points, three assists, and three steals, while senior Tyonna Williams had 10 points (all coming in the second half) and eight assists. Rookie Khadijah Berger scored the first 13 points of her career, including connecting on four of five from three-point range. On the glass, junior Erica Covile led the Owls with 12 boards, while sophomore Safiya Martin pulled down seven.
Head Coach Tonya Cardoza liked the team's resiliency, especially when faced with foul trouble. "Sometimes calls weren't going our way and we could have easily gotten down on ourselves because we were in foul trouble, but we stepped up and guys made big plays," she said. "Khadijah came in off the bench and knocked down some shots. She made her first shots today and we needed every one of them. It was a great team effort."
Temple grabbed an early 9-6 lead after a three from Fitzgerald. Harvard responded with a 6-0 run, taking a 12-9 lead on an Erin McConnell lay-up, at 11:50. The Owls bounced back with a bucket from Martin and back-to-back threes from Berger to regain a 17-12 lead with 9:04 to play.
Harvard used early foul trouble from the Owls to take over the momentum, scoring seven unanswered points to grab a 23-19 edge with 6:16 to play in the half. Temple briefly tied the game after an Atkinson three and a Martin jumper, but Harvard went on another run, this time 9-2, to go up 32-25 with 2:31 on the clock.
Temple used great defense, forcing three Crimson turnovers and converting at the other end to tie the game. Fast break points from Atkinson and Butts sandwiched another Berger trey to make it 32-32 with just over a minute remaining in the half. Harvard then hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to re-gain a slim lead (34-32) heading into the locker room.
At the break, Atkinson led the Owls with 13 points, while Berger had nine. Harvard's Fagbenle reached double-figures in both points (13) and rebounds (13) to complete her double-double in the first 20 minutes of action.
The teams traded leads early in the second half, with neither squad leading by more than three until the Owls got a Williams trey to make it 46-42 with 14:54 on the clock. Harvard battled back to briefly take a 47-45 edge, but a conventional three-point play from Atkinson and a Covile jumper made it 51-47 Temple with 11:43 to play.
Harvard responded with five straight to take a one-point edge (52-51) before Temple put together a 13-0 run that gave the Owls the lead for good. Butts and Williams each had five during the surge, with Temple taking its largest lead of the game at 64-52 with 7:24 to play.
The Crimson made a small 6-2 run to cut the lead to eight, but Temple responded with a 7-2 run, including six points from Fitzgerald, to push the lead to 75-60 with 1:07 to play. Five points from Harvard cut the lead to 10 before Temple sealed the 81-69 win with solid free throw shooting down the stretch.
Cardoza was happy with the team's defense and the overall team effort. "I felt like the defensive effort was a lot better. We had a lot of guys contribute, even things weren't going well for certain people, they stayed with it," she noted. "We always talk about what can you do to help us if you're not making shots, well you can be a good teammate and a good supporter and I felt like all of our players did that today."
Temple now returns to Philadelphia to begin a stretch of four-straight home games. The Owls kick off the home stand with Delaware, taking on the Blue Hens on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.
Box Score (PDF)
Players Mentioned
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