Women's Basketball Tops Houston for Fifth-Straight Win

Saturday, January 2

Houston, Texas

3:00 p.m.

Temple University

8-4 (2-0)

Houston

4-9 (0-2)

Temple

Houston

Photo by: Julia Martin

Women's Basketball Tops Houston for Fifth-Straight Win

1.2.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HOUSTON -- Junior Feyonda Fitzgerald scored all 23 of her points in the second half, leading the Temple women's basketball team to a 75-66 win on the road at Houston on Saturday afternoon. The Owls rallied from a three-point deficit in the final six minutes of play, moving to 8-4 (2-0 American) with their fifth-straight victory. Houston falls to 4-9, 0-2 in conference play.

Temple led through the first 34 minutes, but after back-to-back threes from Houston, the Owls trailed by three points, 60-57. From there, Fitzgerald and sophomore Alliya Butts hit consecutive threes to regain the lead with under three to play, and Temple closed out the win with Fitzgerald hitting seven free throws.

Fitzgerald's final line also included three assists and she finished 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Butts ended her afternoon with 20 points, five steals, and four rebounds, while senior Erica Covile had 17 points, six boards and two blocks. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson had 10 points and four rebounds, and classmate Donnaizha Fountain led the Owls with nine rebounds, while Khadijah Berger had five.

Temple started the game with an extended run for the second-straight contest. The Owls scored 13 unanswered to start the first quarter, holding the Cougars scoreless until a Kierra Graves lay-up put Houston on the board with 2:48 left. After a Houston free throw, the Owls closed out the half with four-straight to make it a 17-3 game. Temple allowed a season-low three first quarter points, holding Houston to 1-13 (7.7%) shooting.

The Cougars responded early in the second quarter, going on an 13-1 run, including three from deep, to close the deficit to 18-16 with 5:01 on the clock. The Cougars got to within one (19-18), before Temple went on a 10-2 run, including six points from Butts, making it 29-20 with 1:52 remaining. Houston scored four-straight to get the lead back down to five, but Temple closed the half with two points each from Covile and Butts, to make it 33-24 at the break.

The Owls increased their lead to 13 points (43-30) after four minutes of play in the third quarter, backed by six points from Fitzgerald. From there, Houston cut thee lead to just five, as a Butler three keyed a 7-2 run for the Cougars that made it 50-47. However, Temple was able to get a pair of free throws from Berger to close the quarter with a 52-47 edge.

The teams traded buckets to open the fourth quarter, but Houston followed with an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The Cougars got a three from Mariah Mitchell to knot things at 54-54, and took the lead on a three from Marche' Amerson that made it 57-54 with 5:50 to play. Temple responded with back-to-back threes, as Fitzgerald and Butts each hit to make it 60-57 Owls. Houston quickly tied things with another three, and the teams traded lay-ups to make it 62-62 with 3:31 remaining.

With under three minutes to play, Temple scored seven unanswered points to go up 69-62 with 1:07 on the clock. That run was the final surge that the Owls needed, as Temple closed out the game with solid free throw shooting from Fitzgerald, setting the final to 75-66.

The Owls continue their Texas swing with a Tuesday match-up at SMU beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Box Score (PDF)