Women's Basketball Plays Cincinnati at Home on Tuesday

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team will play host to American Athletic Conference-rival Cincinnati at home on Tuesday. The 8-11 (4-2 American) Owls will take on the Bearcats (5-12, 2-4 American) at McGonigle Hall at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Temple is coming off a 72-57 win over UCF at home on Sunday. In that game, senior Tyonna Williams led Temple with 17 points and four assists, while freshman Tanaya Atkinson notched her fourth-career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Atkinson also added a career-best four steals and to go with two assists. Freshman Alliya Butts finished with 14 points, a game-high five assists, and four steals. Junior Erica Covile notched her second-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 boards, while sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald chipped in with eight points.

For the season, four players are averaging in double-figures for Temple. Fitzgerald leads the crew with 12.4 points per game, while tallying 2.7 assists per contes, with Butts chipping in with 11.0 points and a team-high 2.2 steals per game. Covile averages 10.8 points and a team-best 9.5 boards per game, while Atkinson is fourth on Temple in scoring (10.7 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Rounding out the indivual leaders, Williams averages 9.8 points and a team-best 3.0 assists per game.

Temple shoots 34.8% from the field and 31.3% from three-point range, while connecting on over 70% of its free throws. The Owls are out-rebounding their opponents by a slim margin (42.0-41.8), but are being out-scored, 67.0 to 65.7 on the season.

Cincinnati heads to Philadelphia after a 41-38 loss to Memphis last Wednesday. Freshman Ana Owens led the way at Memphis with 12 points, while sophomore Marley Hill scored 10 points and pulled down seven boards. Rounding out the stat highlights, sophomore Bianca Quisenberry had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Hill and Owen have battled it out for the scoring lead all season, with Hill now averaging a team best 13.1 points per game and Owen close behind with 13.0 points per game. Hill is the team's best rebounder, averaging 9.8 boards per game, while recording team-highs of 18 blocks and seven double-doubles this season. Jasmine Whitfield chips in on offense with 11.2 points per game.

Cincinnati is averaging 59.8 points per game on 38.1% shooting from the field. The Bearcats allow 64.5 points per game.

Temple leads the all-time series, 2-1, after winning January 3rd's match-up on the road at Cincinnati, 81-64. Last season, the teams split a pair of American Athletic Conference meetings, with each team winning on the road. Temple took the opener, a 58-47 victory at at Fifth Third Arena in January, but SMU won the February match-up, a 55-52 win at the Liacouras Center.

The Temple-Cincinnati match-up features a clash between close friends and head coaches, Tonya Cardoza and Jamelle Elliott. The pair worked together as UConn assistant coaches for nine years (1997-2008), before Cardoza left to take the Temple job. Elliott left for Cincinnati in 2009. Cardoza has bragging rights in the series, holding a 2-1 advantage against Elliott in their head coaching careers.

Game Notes (PDF) | Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3)

Women's Basketball Plays Cincinnati at Home on Tuesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tanaya Atkinson

Alliya Butts

Erica Covile

Feyonda Fitzgerald

Tyonna Williams

Temple University Athletics