Fourth Quarter Surge Pushes Women's Basketball over Drexel in WNIT

Friday, March 18

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

21-11

Drexel

19-14

Temple

Drexel

Photo by: Julia Martin

Fourth Quarter Surge Pushes Women's Basketball over Drexel in WNIT

3.18.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA -- A 13-2 fourth quarter run pushed the Temple women's basketball team to a 74-66 victory over Drexel in the first round of the 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Owls handed the Dragons just their fourth home loss of the season, as Temple improved to 21-11 with the victory. Drexel ends its season at 19-14.

Temple moves to the second round and will face Quinnipiac on the road on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

In a tightly played game at the Daskalakis Center, each team held at least a seven point lead, as the advantage changed hands 13 times. In the end, Temple grabbed the momentum late, shooting 56.5% in the second half, holding the Dragons to 38.2% to earn the victory.

Temple was led by sophomore Alliya Butts who racked up 24 points, including going 5-of-8 from long range. The guard also tallied five assists to lead the Owls. Junior Feyonda Fitzgerald finished with 19 points and four assists, while senior Erica Covile notched her 17th-career double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson also flirted with a double-double, finishing just shy at nine points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Donnaizha Fountain ended the game with eight points and five rebounds, while junior Ruth Sherrill added six boards, helping Temple to a 41-29 advantage on the glass, including a 22-12 edge in the second half.

Trailing 5-3, Temple used an 11-3 run over four minutes of play, capped by three straight free throws from Butts to make it a 14-8 game. Each team added two points over the final seconds of the frame, as Alexis Smith hit a pair from the stripe for Drexel and Fitzgerald banked in a runner, setting the score to 16-10 Temple after one.

Drexel came out shooting in the second quarter, using an 8-2 run to quickly knot things at 18-18. After Temple regained the lead with a Covile bucket, Drexel's Sarah Curran heated up, scoring 11 points as part of a 13-4 run that gave the hosts a 31-24 advantage with 2:01 to play. From there, Temple closed out the half with a 6-0 surge, including five from Butts, knotting the score at 31-31 at the break.

Butts led the at the half Owls with 10 points and four assists, while Covile had eight points. For Drexel, Curran led all players with 16 points, while Smith had eight. Temple held a slim 19-17 edge on the glass in the first half, while out-shooting the Dragons 44.4% to 35.5%. Drexel's three point shooting kept them in the game, as the Dragons connected on 7-of-9 (77.8%) from long range, while the Owls hit just 16.7% (2-12) from three.

A 12-5 Drexel run opened the third quarter, as the Dragons led by six 42-36 with 6:31 on the clock. Temple countered with a 13-6 surge, sparked by Butts who drained three from long-range, putting the Owls up 49-48 with 2:37 left. From there, each team took over the lead once more, before Temple closed out the quarter with four-straight to lead 55-52 after three.

Drexel opened the fourth quarter with more hot shooting, as back to back treys (Pellechio, Curran) put the Dragons on top, 58-55. From there, Temple caught fire, going on the 13-2 run, capped by a Fitzgerald three, to give the Owls a 68-60 lead they would hold. Temple went up by as many as 12 before back-to-back Curran buckets cut the lead to eight with under a minute to play. That proved to be as close as the Dragons would get, as Temple held on for the 74-66 victory.

Drexel's Curran finished with 24 points to tie for game-high honors with Butts. Pellechio finished with 11 points, while Smith had 10. The Dragons ended the night shooting 62.5% (10-16) from long-range, but just 36.9% (24-65) from the field.

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