Temple University Athletics
Saturday, March 7
Uncasville, Conn.
12:00 p.m.
Temple University
16-16
71
vs
77
East Carolina
21-9
1
2
F
ECU
40
37
77
Temple
29
42
71
Senior Tyonna Williams scored her 1,000th-career point
Late Surge Falls Short as ECU Tops Women's Basketball in American Quarterfinals
3.7.15 | Women's Basketball
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Senior Tyonna Williams scored 16 points, including the 1,000th of her career, but a late surge fell short as the Temple women's basketball team fell to East Carolina, 77-71, in the quarterfinals of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championships. #5 ECU (21-9) now advances to the semifinals to play the winner of UConn/Cincinnati, while Temple (16-16) will await word on its postseason hopes.
Williams hit the 1,000-point mark on a free throw in the first half, and now has 1,009 career points, ranking 20th on Temple's all-time list. The senior also added four assists, standing at 375 in her career, fifth all-time for the Owls. Temple junior Erica Covile used 15 second-half points to earn team-high honors with 19 total, while also adding a team-best eight rebounds. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald had 13 points, while freshman Alliya Butts had 11 points (all coming in the second half) and a team-high four steals. Rounding out the Temple box, sophomore Safiya Martin and junior Mama Traore each pulled down five boards.
ECU led wire-to-wire, but Temple fought back from 15-point deficits in both halves to get to within five points. Head coach Tonya Cardoza was pointed in her post-game remarks, crediting the loss to the slow start.
"We dug ourselves in a hole that was too great," she said. "I felt like my players, once they got comfortable, competed and fought to the finish. But the way we started was the reason that we lost."
Like their last meeting, Temple started slow, allowing ECU to build a 16-2 advantage at the 12:17 mark. I'Tiana Taylor had six early points for the Pirates, while Temple's lone bucket in the first eight minutes of play came from Martin.
After ECU extended their lead to 19-4, Temple put together a 9-0 run to make it a six-point game (19-13) on a Williams three at 9:12. After the teams traded buckets, ECU pushed it back to 30-20, but a three from Fitzgerald and a pair of Williams free throws made it a five-point game. Temple had a chance to get it down to three, but couldn't convert a pair of free throws.
Following the Temple misses, ECU drained its next four attempts, going on a 10-2 run that made it a 13-point game. The Pirates benefited from Shae Nelson and Janesha Ebron threes during the stretch that set the score to 40-27. Temple got the last bucket of the half, however, as a pair of Fitzgerald free throws made it 40-29 ECU at the break.
Williams led the Owls with 10 points at the half, while Fitzgerald added nine and Traore had five boards. Jada Payne led ECU with 10 points, while Taylor added nine. East Carolina shot 45.5% to the field to Temple's 32%, but rebounding numbers were close with the Pirates holding a 20-17 edge.
Temple opened the second half on a 6-2 run, cutting the lead to 42-35. However, nine-straight from ECU, including five from Nelson, made it a 50-35 game with 14:48 on the clock. ECU continued to add to their lead, as another surge, this one, 11-5, set the score to 62-44 with 8:47 remaining in the game.
At that point, Temple began it's furious comeback. The Owls clawed their way back into the game, scoring 10 unanswered points to close the gap to 62-54 with 6:30 to play. ECU was able to regain some of the cushion with a 6-2 surge that made it 68-56 with 3:43 on the clock.
Temple was able to close the gap even further on a conventional three-point play from Williams, making it 70-65 with 1:19 to play. However, despite a strong press from the Owls and several missed free throws from the Pirates, Temple was unable to get any closer, setting the final to 77-71 East Carolina.
ECU's Jada Payne led all scorers with 22 points, while Jasmine Phillips had 15 points and four assists. Taylor finished with just one second half point, but notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. ECU ended with a 44-40 edge on the boards, while shooting 43.3% from the field. The Pirates also worked around a 12-for-21 performance from the free throw line.
The Owls will now await a possible WNIT bid. Selections will be made before midnight on Monday, March 16.
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
Williams hit the 1,000-point mark on a free throw in the first half, and now has 1,009 career points, ranking 20th on Temple's all-time list. The senior also added four assists, standing at 375 in her career, fifth all-time for the Owls. Temple junior Erica Covile used 15 second-half points to earn team-high honors with 19 total, while also adding a team-best eight rebounds. Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald had 13 points, while freshman Alliya Butts had 11 points (all coming in the second half) and a team-high four steals. Rounding out the Temple box, sophomore Safiya Martin and junior Mama Traore each pulled down five boards.
ECU led wire-to-wire, but Temple fought back from 15-point deficits in both halves to get to within five points. Head coach Tonya Cardoza was pointed in her post-game remarks, crediting the loss to the slow start.
"We dug ourselves in a hole that was too great," she said. "I felt like my players, once they got comfortable, competed and fought to the finish. But the way we started was the reason that we lost."
Like their last meeting, Temple started slow, allowing ECU to build a 16-2 advantage at the 12:17 mark. I'Tiana Taylor had six early points for the Pirates, while Temple's lone bucket in the first eight minutes of play came from Martin.
After ECU extended their lead to 19-4, Temple put together a 9-0 run to make it a six-point game (19-13) on a Williams three at 9:12. After the teams traded buckets, ECU pushed it back to 30-20, but a three from Fitzgerald and a pair of Williams free throws made it a five-point game. Temple had a chance to get it down to three, but couldn't convert a pair of free throws.
Following the Temple misses, ECU drained its next four attempts, going on a 10-2 run that made it a 13-point game. The Pirates benefited from Shae Nelson and Janesha Ebron threes during the stretch that set the score to 40-27. Temple got the last bucket of the half, however, as a pair of Fitzgerald free throws made it 40-29 ECU at the break.
Williams led the Owls with 10 points at the half, while Fitzgerald added nine and Traore had five boards. Jada Payne led ECU with 10 points, while Taylor added nine. East Carolina shot 45.5% to the field to Temple's 32%, but rebounding numbers were close with the Pirates holding a 20-17 edge.
Temple opened the second half on a 6-2 run, cutting the lead to 42-35. However, nine-straight from ECU, including five from Nelson, made it a 50-35 game with 14:48 on the clock. ECU continued to add to their lead, as another surge, this one, 11-5, set the score to 62-44 with 8:47 remaining in the game.
At that point, Temple began it's furious comeback. The Owls clawed their way back into the game, scoring 10 unanswered points to close the gap to 62-54 with 6:30 to play. ECU was able to regain some of the cushion with a 6-2 surge that made it 68-56 with 3:43 on the clock.
Temple was able to close the gap even further on a conventional three-point play from Williams, making it 70-65 with 1:19 to play. However, despite a strong press from the Owls and several missed free throws from the Pirates, Temple was unable to get any closer, setting the final to 77-71 East Carolina.
ECU's Jada Payne led all scorers with 22 points, while Jasmine Phillips had 15 points and four assists. Taylor finished with just one second half point, but notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. ECU ended with a 44-40 edge on the boards, while shooting 43.3% from the field. The Pirates also worked around a 12-for-21 performance from the free throw line.
The Owls will now await a possible WNIT bid. Selections will be made before midnight on Monday, March 16.
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
Team Stats
ECU
TEMPLE
FG%
.433
.371
3FG%
.583
.200
FT%
.571
.786
RB
44
40
TO
17
20
STL
6
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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