Women's Basketball Rolls Cincinnati, Owls Now 3-0 in The American

Saturday, January 3

Cincinnati, Ohio

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

7-8, 3-0

Cincinnati

3-11, 0-3

Temple

Cincinnati

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Women's Basketball Rolls Cincinnati, Owls Now 3-0 in The American

1.3.15 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Temple women's basketball team shot over 58% in the second half, while junior Erica Covile went 9-9 in the frame, as the Owls grabbed an 81-64 win on the road at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. The victory improves Temple to 3-0 in the American, 7-8 overall, while the Bearcats fall to 3-11, 0-3 in the conference.

Covile finished with 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, wrapping up her fourth-consecutive double-double. She was 9-10 from the field in the game, after starting 0-1 in the first half. Freshman Alliya Butts made the most of her third-straight start, piling on 19 points and adding a game-high three steals. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald notched 11 points and a team-best four assists, while senior Tyonna Williams had eight points. Rounding out the box, freshman Tanaya Atkinson had seven points and four boards.

Cincinnati had the early edge, taking an 11-6 lead with 15:40 on the clock. Temple battled back to take over the advantage, scoring six straight, including a pair of buckets from Fitzgerald off the bench to put Temple up, 12-11.

Fitzgerald sparked a 14-0 Temple run that saw the Owls go up 20-11 with 11 minutes on the clock. The sophomore had nine points in the surge. Cincinnati, kept things close, however, scoring the next six points, to bring it to within three points at 20-17 with 7:39 to play.

Temple again created some breathing room, as a putback from junior Mama Traore and a pair of Butts threes extended the Owls' advantage to 28-21 with 4:15 on the clock. Cincinnati then went on an 8-0 run to come to within one point (30-29) with 1:56 to play in the half. Temple would not relinquish the advantage, though, closing out the frame on an 8-2 run, including six points from Butts to take a 38-31 lead into the half.

At the break, Butts lead all players with 14 points on 5-9 shooting. Fitzgerald was 4-5 from the field to tally nine first-half points, while Covile pulled down six boards in the frame. Jasmine Whitfield led the Bearcats with 12 at the half, while Chelsea Jamison had six points and five boards.

Both teams shot nearly 40% in the half, with Cincinnati holding a slim 22-21 advantage on the boards. Temple, however, forced nine Bearcats turnovers, while surrendering the ball just three times on their side of the floor.

Temple kept the momentum into the early part of the second half, opening on a 10-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 48-34 with 16:48 to play. Cincinnati was able to get the lead back down to 10 points, with a three at the 14:10 mark, but a three from rookie Khadijah Berger pushed the Temple advantage to 59-43 with 12:09 to play.

Cincinnati took advantage of Temple's foul troubles to go to the line on five-straight possessions, but the Owls' Covile kept the offense rolling, pushing the lead to 71-52 with 7:19 to play. The Owls then surged again, going on a 9-3 run to open up a 73-55 lead with under four minutes to play.

Cincinnati was able to narrow the gap, and again took advantage of the Owls being in double bonus, closing out the game on a 9-3 run, but it wasn't enough as Temple held on for the 81-64 victory.

Temple shot 58.1% from the field in the second half, connecting on 18-31 attempts. The Owls finished with a season-best 47.8% shooting percentage. Temple also turned the ball over just 10 times in the game, tying for the lowest number of giveaways for the team this season.

Cincinnati was paced by 20-points and seven boards from Whitfield, while Marley Hill finished with 16 points and nine boards. Temple ended with a 30-27 advantage on the boards.

Up next for the Owls, the cherry and white will close out its non-conference schedule with a Monday match-up at Penn. The Big 5 action will top off at the Palestra at 7 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)