Women's Basketball Downs ECU on the Road, 83-63

Saturday, January 30

Greenville, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Temple University

13-7,7-2AAC

East Carolina

9-12,3-6AAC

Temple

East Carolina

Photo by: Julia Martin

Women's Basketball Downs ECU on the Road, 83-63

1.30.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The Temple women's basketball team overcame a slow start to post an 83-63 victory on the road at East Carolina on Saturday afternoon. The win lifts the Owls to 13-7 overall, 7-2 in The American. ECU falls to 9-12, 3-6 in conference play.

Possibly still feeling the effects of a 14-hour travel day on Friday, the Owls got off to a slow start and found themselves trailing by 11 midway through the first quarter. From there, Temple out-scored ECU 47-23 between the second and third quarters to grab a lead that the team held.

Sophomore Alliya Butts finished with 25 points, tying a career-high with seven steals, also adding three assists. Senior Erica Covile notched 16 points with a team-high eight rebounds, while graduate student Ugo Nwaigwe shattered her career-high, scoring 15 points on 5-for-5 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line.

Junior Feyonda Fitzgerald notched her second-career double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and tying a career-high with 11 assists. Sophomore Donnaizha Fountain rounded out the scoring with seven points. Temple shot 41.9% (26-62) from the field and 92.3% (24-26) from the free-throw line, including starting the game with 21-straight made free throws.

Temple struggled to start the first quarter, as ECU jumped out to a 13-2 advantage. A 9-2 run saw Temple cut the lead to 15-11 on a Butts three. ECU went back up by six, before Temple closed the quarter on a 5-2 run, including another three from Butts, to cut the deficit to 19-13.

The Owls came alive in the second quarter, out-scoring ECU, 23-10. Temple used a four-point play from Butts and a three-point play from Covile as part of a 14-3 run. The hosts cut the lead to 30-26 with four-straight, but Temple closed out the half with another surge, this one 10-4, to take a 39-29 lead at the break.

Butts led the way with 17 first-half points, including three from long-range, while Covile had eight points and eight rebounds for the Owls. Marina Laramie had 10 points in the first half to lead ECU.

Temple continued to surge in the third quarter, finishing with a 24-13 edge in the frame The Owls used a 10-2 start to go up by 18, at 49-31 with 5:07 to play. From there, Temple hurt ECU on the free throw line, as the Owls went 12-of-13 from the line in the last five minutes of the quarter, ending the period with a 63-42 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Owls pushed their advantage to 71-46 with back-to-back threes from Fountain and Butts. After that, Temple held off a full-court press from ECU to finish off the 83-63 victory.

ECU finished with four players in double figures, led by 14 points from DeVaughn Gray. I'Tiana Taylor notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Laramie added 12 points. Jada Payne, who entered the game scoring 20.3 points a contest, finished with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

The Owls return home on Wednesday playing SMU at the Liacouras Center. Game time is set for 12 noon, as Temple hosts a "School Day" game for local elementary schools.

Box Score (PDF)