Women's Basketball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Rutgers on Wednesday

Wednesday, December 10

McGonigle Hall

6:00 p.m.

Temple University

Rutgers

Safiya Martin leads the Owls on the boards, averaging 7.8 rebounds per game

Photo by: Ken Inness

Women's Basketball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Rutgers on Wednesday

12.9.14 | Women's Basketball

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team will face its first nationally ranked opponent of the season, hosting No. 17/19 Rutgers on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The 3-5 Owls have dropped two in a row and will be looking to top the 7-1 Scarlet Knights for the first time since 2010.

Temple is coming off a 71-64 loss against Fordham at McGonigle Hall on Sunday. The Owls rallied from a 16-point deficit, cutting the lead to just three points late in the game, but Fordham didn't relinquish their advantage. 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.

Four players are averaging double-figures in scoring for the Owls, led by Fitzgerald's 14.5 points per game. The sophomore also dishes out 3.13 assists per game. Butts is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game, and also leads the Owls with 19 total steals. Williams has recorded 11.4 points per game with a team-best 3.5 assists per contest. Freshman Tanaya Atkinson rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.6 points per game, also contributing 6.8 boards per game. Sophomore Safiya Martin is the team's best rebounder, averaging 7.8 boards per outing, while Covile has picked up 7.5 boards per contest.

No. 17/20 Rutgers team comes to Philadelphia with a 7-1 overall record record. In their most recent outing, the Scarlet Knights handed No. 25 Arkansas a 64-52 defeat on Sunday afternoon. Kahleah Copper lead all scorers with 17 points, while Betnijah Laney captured her eight straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Scaife and Rachel Hollivay each chipped in with 13 points to round out the Scarlet Knight double figure scorers.

For the season, Scaife leads Rutgers with 17.0 points per game, while Laney averages a double-double with 16.0 points and 14.8 rebounds per game, shooting 53.4% from the field. Copper scores 14.5 points per contest, while Briyona Canty is averaging 9.5 points per game, also racking up a team-best 5.75 assists per outing.

Rutgers has a commanding lead in the series, winning 37 of the squads' 48 meetings, including four in a row. The Owls and the Scarlet Knights were conference foes in both the Atlantic-10 and American Athletic Conference, before Rutgers moved to the Big Ten to start this season. Last year, the pair met in a pair of regular season American Athletic Conference games, with Rutgers winning both contests. Each game was decided by under 10 points with Rutgers grabbing a 74-68 win in McGonigle Hall on January 25 and the Scarlet Knights winning 67-58 on their home court on February 26.

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