Women's Basketball Falls to Cincinnati In Annual "School Day" Game

Wednesday, February 21

Liacouras Center

12:00 p.m.

Temple University

10-17, 2-12AAC

Cincinnati

17-10, 9-5AAC

Cincinnati

Temple

Senior guard Tanaya Atkinson

Women's Basketball Falls to Cincinnati In Annual "School Day" Game

2.21.18 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - Plagued by a slow start and poor shooting, the Temple women's basketball team (10-17, 2-12) fell to conference rival Cincinnati (17-10, 9-5) 70-52 in this year's "School Day" game. Despite the loss, it was a historic day for senior guard Tanaya Atkinson. With her seventh rebound of the game midway through the third quarter, Atkinson became just the second player in program history to notch 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career. Marilyn Stephens (1980-84) is the only other Owl to achieve the feat.

KEYS TO THE GAME
> Cincinnati got out to an early lead thanks to a strong defensive first quarter and never looked back. The visitors held Temple to just 10 points on 31.3% shooting in the first period, and Temple was unable to make up the deficit despite a series of runs in the second and third quarters.
> Cincinnati's lone seniors - guard Ana Owens and forward Shanice Johnson - each scored a game-high 24 points.
> After scoring just 22 points in the second and third quarters combined, Cincinnati scored 27 points on 69.2% shooting in the final frame to put the game out of reach.
> Temple shot a paltry 33.3% from the field overall, and made just 5 of their 24 three-point attempts.

INDIVDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
> Senior guard Tanaya Atkinson posted her fourteenth double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
> Freshman guard Emani Mayo led Temple with 13 points on 5-12 shooting.
> Freshman guard Desiree Oliver had a strong showing, finishing with with 12 points and five rebounds.

FIRST QUARTER
> Cincinnati's active defense forced five Temple turnovers and held the Owls to 31.3% shooting from the field.
> The visitors extended their defensive pressure halfway through the quarter to finish the frame on a 17-6 run to take a 21-10 lead going into the second quarter.
> Senior guard Tanaya Atkinson led the Owls with four points and three rebounds.

SECOND QUARTER
> Temple opened the quarter on a 10-5 run to cut the margin to six points (26-20) with four minutes remaining.
> Mia Davis led the Owls with six points in the quarter, and her buzzer-beating jumpshot cut Cincinnati's lead to eight as the Owls trailed 32-34 at the half.

THIRD QUARTER
> The visitors led by as many as 13 points in the quarter, but the Owls were able to cut the margin back down to single digits and trailed 43-35 heading into the final period.
> Freshman guard Emani Mayo led the team with five points in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
> Tanaya Atkinson opened the scoring with a driving layup for her first points since the first quarter, and led the Owls with six points and three rebounds in the period.
> Temple cut the lead to five with nine minutes remaining in the game, but the visitors countered with 10 straight points to push their lead to 15 and out of reach.

UP NEXT
> Temple travels to Greenville, NC for another afternoon conference game against ECU on Saturday.
> The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST.