Women's Basketball Wins Thriller at East Carolina

Saturday, February 24

Greensboro, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

11,17,3-12

ECU

15-13,7-8

Temple

ECU

Women's Basketball Wins Thriller at East Carolina

2.24.18 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Trailing by two with under a minute to play, the Temple women's basketball team got a bucket from freshman Desiree Oliver and a free throw from senior Tanaya Atkinson to give the Owls a 65-64 victory at East Carolina on Saturday. The win improves the Owls to 11-17 overall, 3-12 in conference play, while the Pirates fall to 15-13 overall, 7-8 in The American.

KEYS TO THE GAME
> A huge third quarter from Temple rallied the Owls from down five at the half, to take a 48-39 lead after three.
> ECU was able to answer on their home court to take a late lead, but Temple closed the game on an 11-6 run to earn the win.
> Both teams hovered around 30% shooting in the first half, and each team led by at least six in 20 minutes of back-and-forth action.
> ECU got hot from three in the second, pushing to halftime with a 30-25 advantage.
> Temple finished the game shooting 39% to ECU's 37.7%, and held a 47-41 edge on the glass.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
> Atkinson finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season, while becoming Temple's all-time single season free throw leader. She bested Kelly Lane's record of 147 from the line in the 1989-90 season.
> Rookie Mia Davis also grabbed a double-double, her fifth of the season, with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
> Freshman Emani Mayo and graduate student Mykia Jones each finished with 10 points.
> Rookie Breanna Perry had six points and six rebounds, while senior Khadijah Berger dished out a team-high five assists.

FIRST QUARTER
> A slow moving first quarter saw the teams combine for just seven points in the first five minutes, with ECU leading Temple, 5-2.
> Temple tied things with a three from Mayo, which sparked an 11-2 run that put the Owls up 13-7.
> ECU cut into the lead with a 5-1 surge to close the frame, but the Owls led 14-12 after one.

SECOND QUARTER
> ECU quickly tied things to start the second quarter, but Temple went on a 5-2 run to go up 19-16.
> From there, it was all Pirates, as a 14-2 surge, including back-to-bac threes made it 30-21 with 1:45 to play.
> Temple got a few back down the stretch, closing the scoring with a Lena Niang three to cut the lead to 30-25.

THIRD QUARTER
> Temple opened with a 6-2 run to cut it to 32-31, before ECU answered with a surge of their own to go back up 39-35.
> From there, Temple's defense held the Pirates without a field goal for the final 6:21.
> On the other end of the court, the Owls went on a 15-1 run, as Jones scored the final nine points of the frame, to give Temple its largest lead of the game, 48-39.

FOURTH QUARTER
> ECU opened the frame on a 19-6 run to erase Temple's lead and go up by four.
> Temple chipped away, as five points from Mayo, three from Atkinson and a driving lay-up from rookie Desiree Oliver tied things at 64-64.
> The Owls came up with a defensive stop on the next possession, and Atkinson converted from the line to put Temple up 65-64 with 6.5 seconds to play.
> ECU had a chance in the final seconds, but Temple's defense held, and the Owls grabbed the win.

UP NEXT
> Temple has a short turnaround time, playing again on Monday night.
> The Owls will host Memphis at 7:00 p.m. at McGonigle Hall on CBS Sports Network.
> The game serves as "Senior Night" for the Owls' Class of 2018 -- Tanaya Atkinson, Khadijah Berger, and Mykia Jones.