Shorthanded Owls Fall to UCF in a Thriller on The Road

Tuesday, February 21

Orlando, Fla.

6:00 P.M.

Temple University

10-16,5-9AAC

UCF

12-13,3-10AAC

Temple

UCF

Photo by: Tim McCall

Shorthanded Owls Fall to UCF in a Thriller on The Road

2.21.23 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ORLANDO, FL – The Temple women's basketball team (10-16, 5-9 AAC) fell to the UCF Knights (12-13, 3-10 AAC), 57-53. The Owls hung with the Knights the entire contest, leading a good portion of the second half.

Aleah Nelson led all scorers with 18 points. Tarriyonna Gary scored 12 points and added nine rebounds in front of a hometown crowd for the Brookeville, Florida native. Anzhane Hutton led the Knights with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

First Quarter: Temple 5, UCF 15
> Neither team scored for the first four minutes of game time. UCF opened the scoring with a triple, Gary countered with a three of her own to tie the game going into the first media timeout.
> The Owls suffered a critical injury, with starting forward Caranda Perea suffering a game ender in the first quarter. UCF ended the period on a 12-2 run following Perea's injury.
> Gary led Temple with three points and four rebounds.

Second Quarter: Temple 25, UCF 31
> Temple picked up the scoring quickly early in the frame. The Owls made up ground with four points from Tiarra East and a three from Ines Piper (17-12, UCF). UCF countered, building the lead back up to 10.
> The Owls began cutting into the lead with points from Makayla Waleed and East. The Cherry & White pulled with three on a Brittany Garner layup (28-25, UCF).
> UCF scored the last three of the quarter to put the Knights up six points at the conclusion of the half.
> Gary continued to impress, with six points and five boards. Nelson led the Owls in scoring with seven.

Third Quarter: Temple 42, UCF 38
> The Owls came out with points from Piper and Gary. With 9:13 left on the clock, a scuffle under the basket resulted in on a technical foul on UCF and the Owls' Brittany Garner disqualified.
> Temple refused to quit, not allowing the lead to grow beyond three points and cutting it to one several times.
> TU took the lead on an and-one from East (40-38, TU). The quarter ended on a 7-0 run for the Cherry & White.
> Nelson led all scorers in the period with seven points.

Fourth Quarter: Temple 53, UCF 57
> UCF knocked down a pair of free throws to start the period, Gary countered punched with a three-pointer to extend the lead to four (45-41, TU).
> The team traded baskets for a few minutes, with the lead bouncing between two and four points. Temple held a 49-47 lead at the media timeout.
> The Knights tied the game with 4:27 remaining at 49. UCF scored the next five (54-49, UCF).
> Temple hung in with points from Nelson and East to trim the deficit down to a point with one minute remaining. The homestanding Knights knocked down two free throws with 58 seconds on the clock.
> The Owls had a chance to tie on a three ball from Nelson, but the attempt hit off the front of the rim. UCF closed out the game for the win.

Game Notes
> Gary set a career-high with nine rebounds.
> This was Nelson's 10th straight game in double-figures.

Up Next
> Temple heads to Wichita State on Saturday (2 p.m./ESPN+/Varsity Network App) for its final road game of the season.