Women's Basketball Tops Tulsa, Advances to American Semifinals

Saturday, March 5

Uncasville, Conn.

8:00 p.m.

Temple University

20-10

Tulsa

12-19

Tulsa

Temple

Tanaya Atkinson led five Owls in double-figures, scoring 20 points on the night

Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference

Women's Basketball Tops Tulsa, Advances to American Semifinals

3.5.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The third-seeded Temple women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship with a 78-52 victory over sixth-seeded Tulsa on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The win, the first ever for Temple in the American tournament, gives the Owls a 20-10 overall mark, while Tulsa dips to 11-19.

The Owls will play second-seeded USF tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in the second of two semifinal match-ups. Top-seeded UConn will face fourth-seeded Tulane in the earlier game. Both games will be broadcast live by ESPNU.

Five different Temple players notched double-figures in scoring on the night, pacing a balanced Owl offense that shot 47.5% for the game and 53.6% in the second half. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson had 20 points and a team-best nine rebounds, while junior Feyonda Fitzgerald had 14 points, seven assists, and six boards. Sophomore Alliya Butts had 14 points in the win, with sophomore Donnaizha Fountain (11 points, 8 rebounds) and senior Erica Covile (10 points, 8 rebounds) both having big games on both ends of the floor. Rounding out the Temple highlights, sophomore Khadijah Berger added seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Head coach Tonya Cardoza was pleased with the defensive effort by the Owls today. "When we turn it up on the defensive side and we make things difficult, we get to get out and transition, and that's where we thrive. We just thrive off of getting stops and whether it's a charge or a block, we really feed off of that," she noted. "And then we start knocking down shots, it's just a rollercoaster."

The Owls took the lead midway through the first quarter and did not trail from that point. A huge first-half from Atkinson sparked the Temple offense and lights out second-half shooting sealed the victory. For the game, the Owls held a 46-30 advantage on the glass, and also held Tulsa to 33.8% (22-65) from the field and just 7.7% (1-13) from long range.

Temple used a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter to take control of the game. Four different Owls got on the board during the run, which lasted 2:41 and turned a 6-3 deficit into a 13-6 lead. Tulsa halted the Owls' run with a pair of Ashley Clark free throws, but the Owls closed the frame with a 4-2 run to lead 17-10 after one.

Atkinson caught fire in the second quarter for Temple, scoring 11 points to spark a 19-5 run. That surge pushed Temple's advantage to 36-15 with 3:35 on the clock. Tulsa was able to score back-to-back buckets for the first time since the first quarter, ending the frame with four-straight to make it a 36-19 game at the break.

Atkinson led all players with 16 first-half points, also adding six rebounds and a pair of steals. Temple out-rebounded the Hurricane 25-17, while shooting 42.4% from the field.

Temple survived a 6-0 Tulsa run to start the second half, as the advantage shrunk to just 11. Tulsa had a chance to get the deficit to single digits, but Fountain nabbed a steal on the next possession and converted a fast-break bucket. That play sparked a 10-4 Temple run that brought the Owls' lead back to 17 (46-29) with 5:59 left in the frame. From there, Temple's advantage increased to 20 by the end of the third, as Temple led 60-40 after 30 minutes of play.

An 11-2 Temple run to start the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for Tulsa. Despite an 8-0 surge from the Hurricane halfway through the frame, the Owls' advantage did not fall under 21 points the rest of the way. Temple then closed out the victory with a 7-2 run accounting for the 78-52 final.

Clark led Tulsa with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Erika Wakefield added 10 points in the loss.

POST-GAME NOTES: The Owls won their first ever game in American Athletic Conference Tournament play... Temple reached the 20-win plateau for the 15th time in program history, achieving the milestone in back-to-back seasons... Junior Feyonda Fitzgerald moved into third place on the all-time single season assist list with 164 this season, passing current graduate manager Tyonna Williams' 161 assists in 2012-13... All five starters reached double-figures in scoring in the game for the first time since Temple beat Delaware State, 100-59, on December 19, 2015... The Owls were held without a three for 29:34 and after Alliya Butts hit the first of the game, the Owls followed with threes on their next three possessions.

Box Score (PDF) | Post-Game Press Conference | Video Highlights | Photo Gallery