Women's Basketball Hosts Memphis on Wednesday in American Opener

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team opens play in the American Athletic Conference on Wednesday night. The Owls play host to Memphis at 7:00 p.m. at McGonigle Hall.

The Owls
   •   Temple is 6-4 overall after winning three-straight games.
   •   In their last outing on December 19, six different players hit double figures as the Owls notched a 100-59 victory over Delaware State. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson recorded a career-high 24 points and also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
   •   Classmate Alliya Butts had a well-rounded stat line with 17 points, a career-best seven assists, and four steals, while senior Erica Covile had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
   •   Sophomore Donnaizha Fountain tied a career-high with 14 points, while also pulling down eight boards, and the Owls also saw a season-high 11 points, five rebounds, and three steals from sophomore Khadijah Berger.
   •   Rounding out the box score against Delaware State, junior Feyonda Fitzgerald had 10 points, three assists, and two steals, while graduate student Ugo Nwaigwe had seven rebounds, four points and three blocks.
   •   For the season, Fitzgerald leads the Owls with 16.5 points per game, also racking up 52 assists and 25 steals, both team-highs.
   •   Butts (14.3) and Atkinson (12.1) also average in double figures for Temple, with Butts notching 18 steals and 32 assists on the season, and Atkinson pulling down 6.0 rebounds per game.
   •   Covile adds 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while Fountain contributes 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds an outing.

The Tigers
   •   Memphis is 6-5 overall, having won two in a row after a three-game skid.
   •   The Tigers are led by pre-season All-Conference selection, Ariel Hearn, who leads the team with 15.4 points per game and totals of 34 steals and 34 assists.
   •   Brianna Wright and Asianna Fuqua-Bey also add to the Memphis offense that totals 64.4 points per game. Wright averages 9.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Fuqua-Bey contributes 8.6 points and a team-best 6.8 boards an outing.
   •   Most recently, Memphis handed Illinois just its second loss of the season, winning 81-75 at home on December 19.
   •   The Tigers used a 15-1 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth that spanned over six minutes to give Memphis the lead.
   •   Ariel Hearn led the charge against the Fighting Illini with 29 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Her stat line earned her American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors last Monday.
   •   Also against Illinois, Mooriah Rowser added 16 points, and Wright (12 points) and Cheyenne Creighton (11) also netted double figures for Memphis. Fuqua-Bey led the Tigers with eight rebounds and tied a career high with four steals.

Temple vs. Memphis
   •   Temple leads the all-time series with Memphis, 4-0, with all four meetings coming in American Athletic Conference regular season play.
   •   Last time they met, the Owls drained a program-record 15 three pointers en route to an 84-61 win over Memphis at the Liacouras Center for a "School Day" matinee.
   •   Butts scored a career-high 30 points, while then senior Tyonna Williams had 25 points with a career-high seven threes.
   •   Atkinson recorded her fourth-career double-double, notching 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Covile had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the win.
   •   For Memphis, Hearn led the Tigers with 24 points and four steals, while Wright and Rowser each added nine points. Fuqua-Bey pulled down 11 boards to lead Memphis.

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Women's Basketball Hosts Memphis on Wednesday in American Opener

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Players Mentioned

Tanaya Atkinson

Khadijah Berger

Alliya Butts

Erica Covile

Feyonda Fitzgerald

Donnaizha Fountain

Ugo Nwaigwe

Tyonna Williams

Temple University Athletics