Women's Basketball Hosts East Carolina on Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team hosts East Carolina on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at McGonigle Hall. The Owls and the Pirates meet in a conference clash that will be broadcast by the American Digital Network.

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SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple carries an 11-3 overall record with a 2-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Temple is riding a seven-game win streak that began on December 10 with an 83-48 win at Villanova.

Senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald leads the Owls with 18.8 points and 7.4 assists per contest, and has recorded four-straight double-doubles. Junior Alliya Butts averages 16.1 points per game with a team-best 30 steals. Juniors Tanaya Atkinson averages 14.2 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds a game, while Donnaizha Fountain (11.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg) contributes for the Owls on both ends of the floor.

Senior Ruth Sherrill has come on strong since breaking into the starting line-up and averages 5.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Junior Khadijah Berger averages 4.9 points and 2.8 boards per game, while senior Safiya Martin (2.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg) tops the team with 20 total blocks.

Temple averages 732.2 points per game, giving up 62.0. The Owls shoot 39.9% from the field and 32.7% from long-range. Temple forces an average of 16.5 turnovers per game, and out-rebounds opponents by a +5.9 margin.

LAST TIME OUT
Temple downed visiting Tulane, 86-71, at McGonigle Hall on Sunday night for the Owls' seventh-straight win. Both teams entered the contest receiving votes in the USA Today national poll, but it was the Owls who grabbed their 11th win of the season.

Three players reached the 20-point mark for the Owls, including junior Tanaya Atkinson, whose 21 points included the 1,000th of her career. Junior Alliya Butts tied for team-high honors with 21 points, while senior Feyonda Fitzgerald tallied her fourth-straight double-double with 20 points? and a career-high 13 assists. ?Senior Ruth Sherrill also grabbed a double-double, posting 10 points and a game-high 10 boards, while Atkinson added eight rebounds. Junior Khadijah Berger chipped in with seven points and senior Safiya Martin picked up five points with seven rebounds.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina is 10-6 overall with a 1-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The Pirates opened the conference season with losses to Tulane and No. 1 UConn, but rebounded with a 58-57 win over SMU on Tuesday.

Kristen Gaffney leads East Carolina with team-highs of 15.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while Bre McDonald adds 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per outing. Khadidja Toure (8.3 ppg) and Antoinette Bannister (7.3 ppg) also aid the Pirates' offense, with Bannister connecting for a team-best 29 makes from three-point range. Rounding out the East Carolina starters, Gabrielle Holston adds 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

As a team, East Carolina scores 65.8 points per game, giving up 65.7. The Pirates shoot 42.7% from the field as a team, and 34.5% from three. The Pirates force 16.9 turnovers per game, but give up 18.1 themselves, and have a +1.1 rebound margin heading into Wednesday's contest.

LAST TIME OUT
Antoinette Bannister hit the game-winning three-pointer and Bre McDonald logged her fifth double-double of the season as East Carolina downed SMU 58-57 on Saturday.

East Carolina shot 43.1% from the field and 50% from downtown, holding SMU to 27.1% from the field and forcing 20 Mustang turnovers. SMU won the battle on the glass, outrebounded ECU 46-34 and had 21 offensive rebounds. McDonald finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds while adding a game-high six assists. Bannister ended her night with 12 points, including the game-winner, a banked-three with 15 seconds remaining in the game.

THE OWLS VS. THE PIRATES
Temple is 2-1 all-time against East Carolina, 1-1 in the regular season and 0-1 in the post-season. Temple took the only meeting last season, but the teams split in 2014-15. Temple took the first meeting, a 79-69 win in Philadelphia, while ECU got its revenge with a 77-71 win in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

LAST TIME THEY MET: January 30, 2016 - Temple 83, East Carolina 63
Temple overcame massive travel delays and a slow start on court to post an 83-63 victory on the road at East Carolina. The Owls trailed by 11 points midway through the first quarter, but out-scored the Pirates 47-23 between the second and third quarters to grab a lead that the team held.

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.

Alliya Butts finished with 25 points, tying a career-high with seven steals, also adding three assists. Feyonda Fitzgerald notched her second double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and tying a career-high with 11 assists, while Erica Covile notched 16 points with a team-high eight rebounds. Ugo Nwaigwe shattered her career-high, scoring 15 points on 5-for-5 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line.

East Carolina 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.

Game Notes (PDF)

Women's Basketball Hosts East Carolina on Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Tanaya Atkinson

Khadijah Berger

Alliya Butts

Erica Covile

Feyonda Fitzgerald

Donnaizha Fountain

Safiya Martin

Ugo Nwaigwe

Ruth Sherrill

Temple University Athletics