Late Comeback Falls Short for Women's Basketball Against Fordham

Sunday, December 7

McGonigle Hall

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

3-5

Fordham

5-4

Fordham

Temple

Photo by: Paige Ozaroski

Late Comeback Falls Short for Women's Basketball Against Fordham

12.7.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team saw its comeback attempt fall short, as visiting Fordham held off the Owls, 71-64, on Sunday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. The loss dips Temple to 3-5 overall, while Fordham improves to 5-4.

Temple rallied from a 16-point deficit, cutting the lead to just three points late in the game, but Fordham didn't relinquish their advantage, closing out the win with solid free throw shooting. Temple senior Tyonna Williams led the Owls with 20 points and four assists, while sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald had 15 points and three assists. Freshman Alliya Butts chipped in with eight points and three steals, while junior Erica Covile had eight points and a team-high six rebounds.

Fordham broke an early 7-7 tie with back-to-back threes, one from Samantha Clark and the other from Hannah Missry, taking a 13-7 lead after five minutes of play. Temple was able to cut the lead to four after a Butts triple, but Asnate Fomina and Missry connected from beyond the arc once again, as the Rams took a 21-12 lead with 7:22 to play.

Four points from Fitzgerald and a three from Williams got Temple within two, as the Owls cut the lead to 21-19 with five to play. Fordham answered with a 10-4 run, including six from Burns, pushing the advantage back up to 31-23 with 1:22 on the clock. Temple got a Fitzgerald bucket right before the break to send the teams into the locker room with Fordham up, 31-25.

Fitzgerald and Williams each had eight points at the break, while Fordham's Missry had nine for the Rams.

Fordham's hot shooting continued in the second half, as a pair of threes from Missry and another from Clark sparked a 15-5 run. The surge grew the Rams lead to 16, their largest of the game, going up 46-30 with 15:54 to play.

Temple battled back with a 14-7 run to cut the lead to eight at 53-44. Fitzgerald had five during the run, while Covile added three. After four straight from Fordham, the Owls were able to get the Rams lead back down to six points. Butts hit back-to-back jumpers, the second making it 57-51 with 7:28 to play.

Costly fouls from Temple and solid free throw shooting from Fordham brought the Rams lead back to 12 points at 53-51, before the Owls again brought it back down to six (63-57) with 3:10 to play. Temple surged again, as a pair of Fitzgerald free throws saw the Fordham lead shrink to just three points with 25 seconds on the clock.

The Owls needed to foul on the next possession and Fordham's Tapio made both attempts to give the Rams some breathing room. Temple's final two shots were off the mark and Tapio closed out the game by sinking another pair of free throws to set the final to 71-64.

Fordham's Tapio led all scorers with 21 points including going 9-10 from the charity stripe. Missry finished with 17, nailing five threes as the Rams shot 47.1% from beyond the arc.

Temple has a tall order on Wednesday, as the Owls continue their home stand with a 6 p.m. game against No. 18/20 Rutgers at McGonigle Hall.

Box Score (PDF) | Post-Game Press Conference