Women's Basketball Hosts Tulane in Conference Clash on Sunday

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team will put its six-game winning streak on the line on Sunday when the Owls host visiting Tulane in a conference clash on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN2. Both the 10-3 Owls and the 10-5 Green Wave are receiving votes in the latest USA Today national poll. Pam Ward (play by play) and Gail Goestenkors (analyst) are on the call for ESPN2.

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SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple returns to conference play with a 10-3 overall record and a 1-0 mark in The American.

Senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald leads the Owls with 18.7 points and 7.0 assists per contest, and has recorded three-straight double-doubles. Junior Alliya Butts averages 15.8 points per game with a team-best 30 steals. Juniors Tanaya Atkinson (13.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and Donnaizha Fountain (12.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg) contribute 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 4.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Junior Khadijah Berger averages 4.7 points and 2.8 boards per game, while senior Safiya Martin (1.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) tops the team with 20 total blocks.

Temple averages 72.2 points per game, giving up 61.3. The Owls shoot 39.2% from the field and 32.3% from long-range. Temple forces an average of 16.8 turnovers per game, and out-rebounds opponents by a +5.6 margin.

LAST TIME OUT
Temple won its sixth-straight game, topping Kennesaw State 79-38 on Tuesday afternoon on the road. Temple forced a season-high 27 turnovers in the Owls vs. Owls battle, also holding Kennesaw to just 30.2% (13-43) from the field. The cherry and white finished the game with a 46-31 advantage on the glass, shooting 44.8% (26-58) from the field.

Junior Donnaizha Fountain led all players with 20 points, making 4-of-6 from long-range, also adding eight rebounds and five steals. Senior Feyonda Fitzgerald notched her third-straight double-double, tallying 17 points with 10 assists, while junior Tanaya Atkinson also had a double-double, with 17 points and 12 boards. Freshman Shantay Taylor tallied eight points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes of work, while senior Ruth Sherrill chipped in with seven points.

SCOUTING TULANE
Tulane is 10-5 overall, with a 1-1 mark in conference play. The Green Wave, like Temple, are receiving votes in the USA Today national poll.

The Greenwave are led by Kolby Morgan's 17.6 points per game, while Leslie Vorpahl adds 11.4 points and 6.9 assists an outing. Both players are threats from long-range, with Morgan connecting for a team-best 34 threes, shooting 39.5% and Vorpahl second with 19 makes and a 31.3% shot from beyond-the-arc.

The Green Wave starters include Courtnie Latham (8.3 ppg), Harlyn Wyatt (7.3 ppg, team-high 5.2 rpg), and Meredith Schulte (6.4 ppg). Wyatt leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 55.6% on the season, while also blocking 12 total shots.

As a team, Tulane scores 65.6 points per game, holding opponents to 60.8. The Green Wave shoot 43.7% from the field as a team, and 33.3% from three. Tulane forces 17.3 turnovers per game, but is being out-rebounded by a margin of 2.2 boards a game.

LAST TIME OUT
Tulane saw it's five-game win streak snapped by #22 USF on Wednesday, falling 62-53, despite holding the Bulls to a season low point total and their second lowest shooting percentage of the season. The loss also snapped Tulane's 11-game home winning streak.

Tulane erased a one-point halftime deficit early in the third quarter, taking the lead 29-26. USF responded with a 15-4 run, jumping out to a 43-36 lead after three quarters. In the fourth, the USF lead grew to 15 before a late Tulane charge cut it to a nine-point deficit with the final score.

Leslie Vorpahl and Kolby Morgan were the lone Green Wave in double-figures, scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively. The duo shot a combined 12-of-29 from the field.

LAST TIME THEY MET - February 23, 2016 - Temple 72, Tulane, 67
A second-half surge propelled Temple to program win number 800, as the Owls topped Tulane, 72-67, at McGonigle Hall.

Temple trailed by as many as 10 in the first quarter, and faced a 33-27 deficit at the half. In the third, Temple out-scored Tulane 24-18, knotting the game at 51-51. Hot shooting from beyond-the-arc gave Temple a boost early in the fourth quarter, as the Owls went up by nine at one point. Temple then held off a late Tulane surge to seal the win.

Sophomore Alliya Butts led all players with 22 points, while junior Feyonda Fitzgerald had 13 points and nine assists. Sophomore Khadijah Berger had a season-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Kolby Morgan tied Butts for game-high honors with 22 points, while center Chinwe Duru had 18 points for the Green Wave. Courtnie Latham finished with eight points and eight assists in the loss, while Taylor Emery had nine boards to lead Tulane.

THE OWLS VS. THE GREEN WAVE
Temple leads the all-time series with Tulane, 4-1, including winning three-straight against the Green Wave. The teams did not meet until Tulane began American Athletic Conference play in 2014.

Women's Basketball Hosts Tulane in Conference Clash on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Tanaya Atkinson

Khadijah Berger

Alliya Butts

Feyonda Fitzgerald

Donnaizha Fountain

Safiya Martin

Ruth Sherrill

Shantay Taylor

Temple University Athletics