The Owls Drop Road Decision to South Florida in AAC Clash at The Yuengling Center

Saturday, January 4

Tampa, FL

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

8-6,2-1AAC

South Florida

10-6,3-0AAC

Temple

South Fla.

Photo by: Tim McCall

The Owls Drop Road Decision to South Florida in AAC Clash at The Yuengling Center

1.4.25 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. - Temple women's basketball (8-6, 2-1 AAC) falls to South Florida (10-6, 3-0 AAC) 56-65, at The Yuengling Center Saturday evening. Anissa Rivera had a season-high 19 points shooting 7-12 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter

Teams combined for six missed shots early in the first quarter, before Sammie Puisis's first bucket gave USF an early lead of 3- 0 with 7:15 remaining.
The Owls started 0-5 before Tarriyonna Gary knocked down a three-pointer with 6:30 on the clock.
Anissa Rivera was fouled and made both free throws, bringing the score to 7-5, making it a two-point game.
Out of the media timeout at 4:32, Gary sank her second three of the night. Tiarra East followed with a steal, scoring the first fast break point of the night, tying the game 10-10 with under four minutes remaining.
Rivera scored the Owls' last four points, giving them their first lead of the night, 14-12, to close out the first quarter.

Second Quarter

The Bulls scored first with a jumper from Romi Levy, Rivera responded with a layup of her own assisted by East.
USF went on a 8-0 run to build a six-point lead, 22-16.
Rivera ended a three-minute Temple scoring drought by driving to the basket and converting on a foul shot for a three-point play, cutting into the Bull lead 22-19, with under five minutes remaining, and reaching double-figures.
Kelian Cedano knocked down a triple from the corner scoring her first points of the night, tying the game 24-24.
A USF three with 0:08 to go gave the Bulls a 27-24 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

Third Quarter

USF scored the first points of the second half extending its lead to five, 29-24, early in the third quarter. A 10-1 run by the Bulls to start the quarter pushed the lead to 12 points, 37-25, at a 5:39 media timeout.
By the 4:23 mark, USF's Puisis reached 26 points, including six threes, and the Bulls led 39-25.
Out of the media timeout, Gary went to the free throw line, knocking down all three, 39-28, with four minutes remaining in the period.
Jaleesa Molina laid the ball in cutting into USF's lead 45-30 with one minute remaining. It was Temple's first field goal of the quarter after going 0-11.
Molina and Cedano scored seven points in 30 seconds and trailed by a dozen at the end of the third quarter, 47-35.

Fourth Quarter

Molina scored the first bucket in the final period, with a layup.
USF made four three throws early in the fourth extending its lead to 15, 53-38 with 8:06 remaining.
By the 5:30 media timeout, Temple was unable to cut the deficit under double-digits as each Temple bucket was matched by the Bulls. The game stood at 57-42.
East drove to the basket and made the layup, Temple trailed by 15 with under four minutes to play.
Turner (6) and Rivera (2) scored Temple's last eight points, 63-51.
A three by Gary with 1:06 remaining cut the deficit to 11, 65-54, and a layup by Molina ended the scoring with USF earning a 65-56 win.

INSIDE THE BOX

Gary and Rivera both had six points in the first quarter. Rivera shot 2-4 from the field and went 4-4 from the free-throw line
Rivera had four of the nine Temple rebounds in the first half.
Rivera had a season-high 13 points going 4-6 from the field and 5-5 at the free throw line in the first half against USF. Rivera scored seven of Temple's 10 points in the second quarter, and 11 of the last 14 going back to the first quarter.
Temple shot 30.8% (8-26) USF shot 44% (11-25), and both teams shot 100% from free throw in the first half.
The Owls forced 11 USF turnovers in the first quarter which is the six-straight game Temple has forced double-digit turnovers in the first half.
Temple was outrebounded 25-41, with 15 of those being defensive rebounds in the first half. The Owls' 9 rebounds in the first half is a season-low.

UP NEXT
The Owls continue their Florida stretch and play Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, Jan 8th. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM and will be streamed on ESPN+.