Women's Basketball Plays at Tulane on Sunday

Sunday, February 5

New Orleans, La.

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

Tulane

Women's Basketball Plays at Tulane on Sunday

2.3.17 | Women's Basketball

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team looks to get back to its winning ways on Sunday, playing at Tulane at 2:00 p.m. (EST) on CBS Sports Network. The Owls (16-5) will meet the Green Wave (15-7) in a battle of teams receiving votes in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll. Temple leads the season series with Tulane, 1-0.

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SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple is 16-5 overall with a 6-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Temple had a string of 12-straight victories snapped by #23 USF last Sunday and also fell to #1 UConn on Wednesday.

Four Temple players average in double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald's 17.4 points and 7.5 assists per contest, with the assist number ranked her sixth in the nation. Junior Alliya Butts averages 15.0 points per game with a team-best 45 steals. Junior Donnaizha Fountain averages 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while classmate Tanaya Atkinson (12.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg) contributes on both ends of the floor.

Senior Ruth Sherrill has started the last 14 games for the Owls and averages 5.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Junior Khadijah Berger averages 5.2 points and 2.9 boards per game, while senior Safiya Martin (2.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg) tops the team with 23 total blocks.

Temple averages 70.4 points per game, giving up 60.8. The Owls shoot 39.2% from the field and 31.9% from long-range. Temple forces an average of 16.6 turnovers per game, and out-rebounds opponents by a 5.4 margin.

LAST TIME OUT
Temple fell 97-69 at the hands of the top-ranked UConn Huskies on Wednesday night. UConn built a 54-18 lead at the break, negating a third-quarter that saw Temple out-score the Huskies, 29-22. For the game, the Owls out-rebounded UConn, 42-30, including 26-8 on the offensive glass, but the Huskies forced 19 Temple turnovers and out-shot the Owls, 61.3% to 36.5%.

Tanaya Atkinson recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points with 10 rebounds (nine offensive) and adding a career-high four assists. Alliya Butts finished with 13 points, five assists, and two steals, while classmate Khadijah Berger notched 12 points. Feyonda Fitzgerald scored seven points and dished out seven assists, while senior Ruth Sherrill had six points and six rebounds and junior Donnaizha Fountain had six points

SCOUTING TULANE
Tulane is 15-7 overall, with a 6-3 mark in conference play, and have won five out of their last six games.

The Greenwave are led by Kolby Morgan's 18.5 points per game, while Leslie Vorpahl adds 11.7 points and 6.0 assists an outing. Both players are threats from long-range, with Morgan connecting for a team-best 44 threes, shooting 36.7% and Vorpahl second with 33 makes and a 36.3% shot from beyond-the-arc.

The Green Wave starters include Courtnie Latham (7.5 ppg), Harlyn Wyatt (7.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg), and Meredith Schulte (5.4 ppg, team-high 4.9 rpg). Wyatt leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 55.8% on the season, while also blocking 17 total shots.

As a team, Tulane scores 64.0 points per game, holding opponents to 61.2. The Green Wave shoot 43.5% from the field as a team, and 32.5% from three. Tulane forces 15.9 turnovers per game, but is being out-rebounded by a margin of 1.6 boards a game.

LAST TIME OUT
Tulane grinded out a 57-49 road victory at Houston on Tuesday night. Up just 51-45, Kolby Morgan and Meredith Schulte connected on back-to-back three's to hand Tulane its lone double-digit lead of the game. Tulane's defense then did its part by limiting Houston to just 2-of-12 from the floor in the fourth to seal the win.

Morgan secured her seventh straight game with 20 points with 25 on 10-of-19 shooting, nearly earning her second straight double-double with a team-high nine rebounds. Harlyn Wyatt tallied her second straight game with double-digit points with 10 points, seven rebounds, on a 5-for-7 effort from the field.

THE OWLS VS. THE GREEN WAVE
Temple leads the all-time series with Tulane, 5-1, including winning four-straight against the Green Wave. The teams did not meet until Tulane began American Athletic Conference play in 2014.

LAST TIME THEY MET: January 8, 2017 - Temple 86, Tulane 71
Temple won its seventh-straight game, downing visiting Tulane, 86-71, at McGonigle Hall. Three players reached the 20-point mark for the Owls, including Tanaya Atkinson, whose 21 points included the 1,000th of her career. Alliya Butts tied for team-high honors with 21 points, while Feyonda Fitzgerald tallied her fourth-straight double-double with 20 points and a career-high 13 assists. Ruth Sherrill also grabbed a double-double, posting 10 points and a game-high 10 boards, while Atkinson added eight rebounds.

Temple jumped out to a 21-7 advantage after the first quarter and worked around hot three-point shooting from the Green Wave in the second half to seal the victory. Both teams shot over 50% in the final two quarters, but Temple finished with the final shooting edge, 48.5% (32-66) to 41.4% (29-70). The Owls also held a 43-34 advantage on the boards, the ninth time this season that the cherry and white have out-rebounded their opponent.

Game Notes (PDF)