Fitzgerald Powers Women's Basketball to Comeback Win at Memphis

Sunday, December 28

Memphis, Tenn.

8:30 p.m.

Temple University

5-8, 1-0

Memphis

6-6, 0-1

TEMPLE

MEMPHIS

Feyonda Fitzgerald scored 14 second-half points for the Owls

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Fitzgerald Powers Women's Basketball to Comeback Win at Memphis

12.28.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Temple women's basketball team rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to record a 58-57 win over Memphis on the road on Sunday. The victory starts the Owls at 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference (5-8 overall), while Memphis dips to 0-1 in conference, 6-6 overall.

Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald scored all 14 of her points in the second half, sparking a late Temple comeback. Memphis had led for over 34 minutes before Temple finally went ahead on a pair of Fitzgerald free throws. The Owls later got a huge insurance three from junior Erica Covile and held on for the win.

Fitzgerald, who did not score in the first half, credits a half time pep talk from Coach Tonya Cardoza for the turnaround. "The first half my shots weren't falling, but in the locker room at the half, coach told me, just be confident and keep shooting," noted Fitzgerald. "So in the second half, when they started falling, I gained confidence and on top of that, our team was hungry for a win, so it just clicked."

Senior Tyonna Williams had a team-high 16 points, including a pair of free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory. Fitzgerald added a pair of steals to her 14 points, while Covile had her second-straight double-double with 12 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Rounding out the numbers for the Owls, freshmen Alliya Butts (six points, three assists, two steals), Tanaya Atkinson (nine rebounds, five points), and Khadijah Berger (game-high four assists), all helped bolster the Temple box score.

While Temple held an early 4-1 lead, Memphis put together an 11-2 run to take over, going up 12-6 with 11:22 to play in the half. Temple battled back to cut the lead to four at 19-5, with Berger connecting from three point range and Covile adding a pair of lay-ups.

Following the Temple run, Memphis grabbed the momentum with a 10-5 surge that put the Tigers ahead by nine at 27-18 with 2:44 to play. Temple went on a run of it's own to close out the half, as the Owls outscored the Tigers, 6-1 to close the gap to 28-24 at the break.

At the half, Williams led the Owls with eight points, while Covile chipped in with six points and seven boards. For Memphis, Brianna Wright had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Asiana Fiqua-Bay had six points and seven boards. Both teams hovered around 30% shooting, but the Tigers out-rebounded Temple 26-19 at the break, including 10-5 on the offensive boards.

Memphis extended its lead early in the second half, going on an 8-3 run, including four points from Ariel Hearn, to take a 36-27 advantage with 16:58 to play. A 7-2 Temple surge, including a three from Fitzgerald brought Temple to back to its halftime deficit of four (38-34) with 14:45 left.

Fitzgerald stayed hot, at one point scoring seven in a row for the Owls, and a Williams three cut the Owls deficit to just two points, at 43-41, with 11:44 to play. Memphis kept pace with the Owls hot streak, though, keeping the lead for the next eight minutes before Temple finally pulled ahead on a pair of Fitzgerald free throws with 2:50 to play.

Memphis regained its edge on the next possession, combining an offensive board with a quick put-back, before a Fitzgerald step back jumper off the wrong foot gave the Owls another one-point lead at 52-51 with 1:10 to play. The Owls forced a Memphis turnover on the next trip down the court before Covile gave Temple its largest lead of the game, nailing a three to go up 55-51 with 30 seconds to play.

Temple extended its advantage to 56-51 with a free throw before Memphis' Hearn cut the lead to 56-52 with 6.8 seconds remaining. After a Tigers foul, Williams drained both of her free throws, but another Hearn three, this time with 1.6 seconds to play, cut the Temple edge to 58-57. After a Temple timeout, Williams inbounded the ball high and far, finding a streaking Covile, who ran out the clock to seal the Owl victory.

Williams made note of Covile's three after the game, as the catalyst for the late surge. "The two free throws I hit were big, but it was Erica's three pointer that really did it for us," said Williams. "We fed off of that and everyone made plays at the end when it counted. Today felt different, we've had so many close games where we couldn't pull it out down the stretch, and just to turn around, come back and fight for a win like that felt amazing"

The game featured a pair of returning All-Conference selections from last season in Fitzgerald for the Owls and Hearn for the Tigers. Both players were held scoreless in the first half, before combining for 27 points in the second. Fitzgerald finished with 14, while Hearn ended with 13. Memphis' Brianna Wright led all players with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Temple has short rest before hosting another American Athletic Conference opponent on Tuesday. The Owls will welcome SMU to McGonigle Hall at 7 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)