Women's Basketball Hopes to Stay Hot in Florida

Tuesday, January 27

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

UCF

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Women's Basketball Hopes to Stay Hot in Florida

1.26.15 | Women's Basketball

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team will look for its third win in a row, heading to Orlando, Fla., for a Tuesday match-up at UCF. The Owls (9-11, 5-2 American) will try for a sweep of the season series against the Knights (7-12, 3-5 American) as the teams meet for the second time in just 10 days. The game will be broadcast by the American Digital Network.

The Owls are coming off an 83-50 win over Cincinnati last Tuesday, completing the season sweep of the Bearcats. Against Cincinnati, the Owls led by just four points at the break (30-26) but exploded for a season-best 64.7% shooting percentage in the second half, to post the 33-point win. Four players scored in double-figures, led by freshman Alliya Butts' 17 points and five assists, while junior Erica Covile, sophomore Taylor Robinson, and freshman Tanaya Atkinson all added 14-point games. Covile also added five assists and six boards, while Atkinson added a game-high seven rebounds.

For the season, four players are averaging in double-figures for Temple. Fitzgerald leads the way with 12.2 points per game, while tallying 2.8 assists per contest, with Butts chipping in with 11.3 points and a team-high 2.1 steals per game. Erica Covile averages 11.0 points and a team-best 9.4 boards per game, while Atkinson is fourth on Temple in scoring (10.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Rounding out the indivual leaders, senior Tyonna Williams averages 9.5 points and a team-best 3.0 assists per game.

UCF enters Tuesday's clash coming off a 61-57 road win at SMU on Sunday. Zykira Lewis and Aliyah Gregory once again notched double figures to lead UCF in the game. Lewis went a near-perfect 8-of-9 from the free throw line en route to 18 points while Gregory chipped in 10. Freshman Fifi Ndour came up big on the boards with a team-high 8 to go along with her 7 points and 4 assists.

UCF boasts the league's top scorer in Lewis, who is averaging 20.3 points per game. She also leads the Knights in steals with 33 and is second in assists, averaging 1.9 per game. UCF also receives an offensive boost from Gregory, who is averaging 11.6 points per contest, while senior Brittni Montgomery ranks third in scoring (7.3 ppg) and tops in rebounding (7.2 rpg). Senior Andrea Hines averages a team-high 4.4 assists per game, which ranks her third in the American.

The Knights average 64.6 points per game, while giving up 68.6. They shoot 37.7% from the field, but only 28.7% from three-point range. UCF averages 18.9 turnovers per game, but out-rebounds its opponents by nearly four boards per contest.

Temple is 3-1 all-time against UCF, with the Owls winning three in a row. The teams met for the first time in 1995, an 84-66 UCF win, but Temple won the next two meetings, both coming in last year's American Athletic Conference regular season.

Temple won the first meeting between the two teams this season, taking a 72-57 victory at home on January 17. The Owls built a 49-20 first half lead, surviving a second-half surge from UCF that saw the Knights shoot 52% to Temple's 19%. However, the 29-point first-half lead stood, with the Owls using a late 15-2 run to squash any comeback hopes for UCF.

Williams led Temple with 17 points and four assists, while Atkinson notched her fourth-career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Butts finished with 14 points, a game-high five assists, and four steals. Covile notched her second-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 boards, while Fitzgerald chipped in with eight points. UCF's Lewis finished the game with 21 points to lead all players, while Gordon wrapped up a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Live Stats | Watch Live | Game Notes (PDF)