Women's Basketball Plays Saturday at East Carolina

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team looks for its third-straight win on Saturday, playing at East Carolina at 5:00 p.m.

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SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple is 18-5 overall with an 8-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The Owls have won back-to-back games and are tied for second in the American.

Four Temple players average in double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald's 16.5 points and 7.4 assists per contest, with the assist number ranked her sixth in the nation. Junior Alliya Butts averages 15.3 points per game with a team-best 45 steals. Junior Donnaizha Fountain averages 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and has 44 steals, while classmate Tanaya Atkinson (12.4 ppg) leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game.

Senior Ruth Sherrill has started the last 16 games for the Owls and averages 5.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Junior Khadijah Berger averages 4.7 points and 2.8 boards per game, while senior Safiya Martin (2.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) tops the team with 27 total blocks.

Temple averages 70.7 points per game, giving up 59.6. The Owls shoot 39.4% from the field and 32.0% from long-range. Temple forces an average of 16.6 turnovers per game, and out-rebounds opponents by a +4.7 margin.

LAST TIME OUT
Temple made it 15-0 in "School Day" games, topping visiting Tulsa, 70-43, on Wednesday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Temple held Tulsa to just 22.2% from the field, while forcing 16 turnovers out of the Golden Hurricane. Temple turned the ball over just six times, a season low.

Junior Donnaizha Fountain led the Owls in scoring for the second-straight game, tallying 17 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Senior Feyonda Fitzgerald flirted with the first triple-double in program history, but finished her afternoon with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. Junior Alliya Butts rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points, while classmates Tanaya Atkinson and Khadijah Berger each tallied nine points in the win.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina is 10-14 overall with a 1-10 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The Pirates have lost eight-straight games, beginning with a loss to Temple on January 11.

Kristen Gaffney leads East Carolina with team-highs of 15.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while Bre McDonald adds 12.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per outing. Khadidja Toure (8.6 ppg) and Antoinette Bannister (6.5 ppg) also aid the Pirates' offense, with Bannister connecting for a team-best 39 makes from three-point range. Rounding out the East Carolina starters, Gabrielle Holston adds 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

As a team, East Carolina scores 63.2 points per game, giving up 69.8. The Pirates shoot 40.9% from the field as a team and 31.1% from three, but a conference-low 59.9% from the free throw line. The Pirates force 16.4 turnovers per game, but give up 17.6 themselves.

LAST TIME OUT
Kristen Gaffney posted her third double-double of the season but East Carolina fell, 76-66, to No. 22 USF on Wednesday night.

The Pirates led 39-37 at halftime after leading by as many as eight points in the second quarter. However, USF rebounded to out-score ECU, 39-27, in the final 20 minutes to grab the win.

Gaffney finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Khadidja Toure had 11 points and Antoinette Bannister added 10.

THE OWLS VS. THE PIRATES
Temple is 3-1 all-time against East Carolina, 2-0 in the regular season and 0-1 in the post-season when the teams met in the 2015 American Athletic Conference semifinals.

LAST TIME THEY MET: January 11, 2017 - Temple 78, ECU 47
Feyonda Fitzgerald became the program's all-time assist leader, as Temple grabbed a convincing 78-47 victory over visiting East Carolina.

Fitzgerald finished with nine helpers on the night and a game-best 22 points. Temple finished the game shooting 45.1%, while shooting over 50% in the second and third quarters. The Owls also forced 20 Pirates' turnovers and held a 45-38 edge on the glass.

Donnaizha Fountain ended her night with 14 points and seven boards, while Tanaya Atkinson had 13 points and seven rebounds. Alliya Butts had 13 points and three assists, and Ruth Sherrill filled out her stat line with six points, six rebounds, and career-highs of three blocks and three steals.

Raven Johnson led the Pirates with 10 points and six rebounds, while Dominique Claytor had nine points and Kristen Gaffney added eight.

Game Notes (PDF)

Women's Basketball Plays Saturday at East Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Tanaya Atkinson

Khadijah Berger

Alliya Butts

Feyonda Fitzgerald

Donnaizha Fountain

Safiya Martin

Ruth Sherrill

Temple University Athletics