Women's Basketball Continues Conference Play Sunday Against USF

Sunday, January 11

McGonigle Hall

12:00 p.m.

Temple University

USF

Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald leads the Owls in scoring this season

Photo by: Paige Ozaroski

Women's Basketball Continues Conference Play Sunday Against USF

1.8.15 | Women's Basketball

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team jumps back into conference play on Sunday, hosting USF at 12 p.m. at McGonigle Hall. The American Athletic Conference clash will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Temple enters Sunday's game with a 7-9 overall record and a 3-0 mark against conference opponents. The Owls are coming off a nail-biting 52-50 loss at Penn in Big 5 action, but their three-game conference streak is still intact. At Penn, freshman Tanaya Atkinson notched her third-career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 17 rebounds. Junior Erica Covile, who played just 21 minutes, notched 12 points and nine boards, but her four-game double-double streak came to an end.

For the season, sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald leads the Owls with 12.2 points per game, while freshman Tanaya Atkinson contributes 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. Covile is averaging 11.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, while senior Tyonna Williams averages 10.0 points and 3.2 assists per game. Rookie Alliya Butts chips in with 9.8 points per game, and leads Temple with 35 total steals this season.

Temple averages 66.3 points per game, shooting 35.8% from the field. The Owls have out-rebounded opponents 42.8 to 40.7 on the season, but allow opponents to shoot nearly 40% from the field.

USF carries a 12-3 overall record into Philadelphia, including a 3-0 mark against American Athletic Conference opponents. The Bulls recently won their sixth-straight, taking down Tulane, 53-40, in a match-up of teams receiving national poll votes. In that game, junior Alisia Jenkins posted her 10th double-double of the season and USF's defense dominated. Jenkins finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds, while junior Courtney Williams scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Freshman Laura Ferreira rounded out the scoring with 10 points.

For the season, Williams and Jenkins are threats for USF on both sides of the ball. Williams is averaging 18.7 points per game, which ranks second overall in The American, while dishing out 3.1 assists and pulling down 8.1 boards per game. Jenkins averages a double-double of 12.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per outing, with her rebounding numbers ranking first among all conference players. Also for the Bulls, Tamara Taylor chips in with 9.4 points per game, while Laura Ferreira averages 7.4 points an outing.

USF is averaging 70.1 points per game, the second highest total in The American this season. The Bulls shoot 41.8% from the field and 34.9 percent from beyond-the-arc. The team also has a +7.5 rebounding margin, which is second in the conference.

Temple and USF have met three times in program history, all coming last season. The Bulls are 3-0 against Temple, taking both regular season match-ups and then ending the Owls' season in the quarterfinals of the 2014 conference tournament.

Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF) | CBS Sports Network Channel Finder