Furious Comeback Falls Short as Villanova Tops Women's Basketball

Monday, December 22

Villanova, Pa.

11:30 a.m.

Temple University

Villanova

Alliya Butts scored 7 points in the final 44 seconds for the Owls

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Furious Comeback Falls Short as Villanova Tops Women's Basketball

12.22.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Down by 17 with 7:21 to play, the Temple women's basketball team made a furious comeback, including scoring 11 points in the final 44 seconds, but it wasn't enough as Villanova held on for a 64-59 Big 5 victory on Monday morning. Both teams now stand at 4-8 overall.

It was a tale of two halves for the Owls, as the team shot just 17.6% from the field in the first half, but rebounded to make 50% of its attempts in the second half. For the game, Temple out-rebounded the Wildcats, 44-32, and had less turnovers, 15 to Villanova's 17, but the Owls couldn't overcome their early shooting woes.

Freshman Tanaya Atkinson led Temple with 22 points while also adding seven boards. Junior Erica Covile notched a double-double for the second time in her last three attempts, scoring 11 points and tying a game-high with 10 rebounds. Freshman Alliya Butts notched 12 points and three steals, all coming in the second half, while classmate Khadijah Berger had seven boards. Senior Tyonna Williams ended the game with six points and a team-high four assists.

Villanova was hot early, connecting on their first four attempts and a pair of free throws to take an 11-3 lead in to the first media timeout. Temple battled back with five in a row, including a three from Atkinson, to cut the lead to 11-8 at 11:07.

After the Temple surge, Villanova struck for a 9-0 run, building their advantage to double-figures at 18-8 with 9:39 on the clock. Temple cut the lead back down to seven with a Feyonda Fitzgerald three at 5:24, but Villanova closed out the frame on an 8-2 run to take a 29-16 halftime lead.

Carolina Coyer led all players with seven first half points for the Wildcats. Lauren Burford and Kavunaa Edwards chipped in with six each for Villanova. Temple was paced by Atkinson's six points in the frame.

Temple's offense starting the second half much better, but Villanova continued to click knocking down three from beyond the arc to increase their lead to 46-29 with 11:30 to play. Temple was able to get the lead back down to 13 points after a lay-up from Covile, but Villanova scored four straight to bring it back to a 17-point cushion (52-35) with 7:21 remaining.

Following the Villanova surge, Temple went on a 13-4 run to bring the lead to just eight points at 56-48, with 1:45 to play. The Owls were forced to foul and Villanova hit four-straight free throws to push the lead back to 12 with 51 seconds to play.

As the clock hit under a minute, a furious Temple comeback saw the Owls score 11 points in the final 44 seconds of play. Butts had seven points during the surge, while Atkinson added four, but time was not on the side of the cherry and white, and Villanova held on for the 64-59 victory.

Temple is now off until Sunday, December 28, when the Owls head to Memphis to begin American Athletic Conference play.

Box Score (PDF)