Women's Basketball Wraps Big 5 Play at Penn on Wednesday

Wednesday, January 23

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM

Temple University

Penn

Photo by: JS Garber

Women's Basketball Wraps Big 5 Play at Penn on Wednesday

1.21.19 | Women's Basketball

Watch (ESPN+)Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple women's basketball team wraps up non-conference and Philadelphia Big 5 play on Wednesday, playing local rival Penn at the Palestra at 7:00 p.m.

THE OWLS
> Temple is 4-13 overall, 3-3 at home and 1-10 away from McGonigle Hall.
> The Owls are 2-1 in the Philadelphia Big 5 this year, with wins over La Salle and Saint Joseph's and a loss to Villanova.
> Sophomore Mia Davis leads Temple on both ends of the floor, averaging 17.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
> Graduate student Alliya Butts is second on the team in scoring, with 14.2 points per game, while leading the Owls with averages of 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per outing.
> Freshman Marissa Mackins averages 6.7 points per game and is second on the Owls with 33 assists, while sophomore Desiree Oliver adds 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
> Rookie Alexa Williamson has made seven straight starts, averaging 5.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while junior Shantay Taylor is averaging 4.5 points and 5.0 boards per outing.
> Sophomore Emani Mayo chips in with 5.1 points per game.
> As a team, Temple is shooting 37.8% from the field and 27.5% from long range.

LAST TIME OUT: #1 UConn 88, Temple 67
> Temple fell to #2 UConn, 88-67, at the Liacouras Center on Saturday afternoon.
> UConn outscored Temple 42-25 in the first half, shooting 48% from the field.
> Temple cut the lead to 14 late in the third quarter, but the Huskies outscored the Owls, 22-17 in the fourth to finish out the game.
> Desiree Oliver rang up her first career double-double, tallying 15 points, 10 rebounds, while adding a career-best seven assists.
> Alliya Butts led Temple with 17 points, adding two steals.
> Mia Davis and Alexa Williamson each had 11 points with five rebounds.

SCOUTING PENN
> Penn enters Wednesday's game with a 9-3 overall record, 2-1 in the Big 5.
> The Quakers boast the nation's third best defense, allowing just 50.7 points per game to opponents. Penn also draws the fewest fouls in NCAA Division I women's basketball, while committing the second fewest turnovers.
> Eleah Parker leads the Quakers with 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
> Ashley Russell averages 9.7 points and 7.1 boards per outing, while dishing out a team-high 4.1 assists per game.
> Princess Aghayere averages 9.4 points and 6.3 rebounds with Phoebe Sterba adding 8.7 points per game with a team-best 28 threes.
> As a team, Penn shoots 40.3% from the field and 31.8% from long range.

LAST TIME OUT: Villanova 58, Penn 50
> Villanova snapped Penn's five-game win streak with a 58-50 win at the Palestra on Wednesday.
> Penn held Villanova to only four points in the first quarter, before Villanova pulled to within one at the break.
> Penn pulled ahead 39-36 after three, but Villanova closed out the win with a 22-11 fourth quarter.
> Eleah Parker finished with a career-high matching 25 points while corralling 17 boards, a new high.
> Phoebe Sterba had four threes to finish with 12 points and six rebounds, the only other Quaker in double figures.

TEMPLE VS. PENN
> Temple leads the long time series with Penn 51-19.
> The Quakers took the last meeting, a 74-59 win at Temple last year.
> The Owls are 7-6 against Penn under Cardoza.

LAST TIME THEY MET: Penn 75, Temple 52
> Visiting Penn racked up 40 points in the paint, as the Quakers topped the Temple, 74-59.
> Temple had no answer for Penn's post players, as the Quakers out-scored the Owls, 40-28 in the paint.
> The Owls suffered from a poor third quarter performance, shooting just 26% in the frame.
> Temple's Tanaya Atkinson tallied her 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
> Desiree Oliver had 14 points with five assists and four rebounds.
> For the Quakers, Ashley Russell had 19 points and nine boards, while Eleah Parker had 16 points and eight rebounds.
> Michelle Nwokedi finished with 13 points while Lauren Whitlatch added 11.

BATTLE IN THE BIG 5
> Temple is 2-1 in Philadelphia Big 5 play with wins over Saint Joseph's and La Salle and a loss to Villanova.
> The Owls will finish Big 5 play on January23 at Penn.
> Temple finished 2-2 in the Big 5 last year, with wins over La Salle and Saint Joseph's.
> Penn and Villanova tied for the title, each going 3-1.
> Saint Joseph's and La Salle each finished with 1-3 records.
> Temple has gone 82-80 in the Big 5 since play begane in 1979.
> The Owls own 10 Big 5 titles, including three under Cardoza. The most recent Temple Big 5 crown came in 2016-17 when the Cherry and White went 4-0 against their local rivals.