No. 2/2 UConn Tops Women's Basketball

Wednesday, January 14

Storrs, Conn.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

7-11, 3-2AAC

UConn

15-1, 5-0AAC

Temple

UConn

Feyonda Fitzgerald had a team-best 16 points

Photo by: Paige Ozaroski

No. 2/2 UConn Tops Women's Basketball

1.14.15 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. — Two-time defending champion and current No. 2 UConn lived up to the hype, handing the Temple women's basketball team a 92-58 loss on Wednesday evening at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies were firing on all cylinders, cruising to their fifth-straight American Athletic Conference win and moving to 15-1 overall. The Owls dipped to 7-11 overall, 3-2 in The American with the loss.

Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald led four players in double-figures for the Owls, scoring 16 points with 12 coming in the second half. Junior Erica Covile recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while picking up two steals. Covile's double-double was the first given up by UConn in 16 games this season. Freshman Alliya Butts scored 14 points with a pair of steals, while senior Tyonna Williams rounded out the Temple highlights with 10 points.

Despite shooting under 20% in the first half, Temple played a solid second half, shooting 38.2% and recording only four turnovers. For the game, the Owls finished with a 28.4% shooting percentage, and were just one turnover away from tying a season-low for giveaways.

UConn controlled play from the outset, building a 13-0 lead before Temple's Covile got the Owls on the board with a jumper at 16:35. The Huskies continued to roll, building up an 18-point lead to hold a 22-4 advantage, just three minutes later.

Temple got the lead back under 16 on two occasions, a pair of Covile free throws at 12:59, and then a jumper from Fitzgerald to make it 36-21 with 12:20 to play. UConn then went on an 8-0 run to push their advantage back to 45-21 with under seven left in the half.

The Owls got a pair of free throws from Covile to at the 4:19 mark, but UConn closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 55-25 lead into the locker room.

At the break, Covile led the Owls with nine points, while Butts had eight. Morgan Tuck led all players with 20, as UConn out-shot Temple 54.5% to 18.2%. The Huskies also had a 35-13 rebounding edge at the half.

Temple out-scored the Huskies to open the half, as four free throws from Williams and a three from Butts set the score to 64-32 with 16:44 to play. Following the Owls' three, UConn went on a 20-12 run to take a commanding 86-44 lead with 8:09 remaining.

UConn continued their hot shooting, extending their advantage to 43 with a jumper from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis putting the Huskies up 92-49 with 5:45 to play. That bucket proved to be the last for UConn, as Temple forced them to go 0-7 to close out the game. During that span, the Owls scored nine-straight, but UConn wrapped up the 92-58 win.

Tuck led all players with 24 points, going 11-12, and leading a UConn offense that shot 52% from the field. Breanna Stewart finished with 19 points, while Mosqueda-Lewis notched a double-double of 17 points and 10 boards.

Temple is back in action at home on Saturday, hosting UCF at McGonigle Hall at 2 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)