The team lost both of its games during a recent trip out west.
The women’s basketball team spent Thanksgiving break enjoying the sunny weather in California as it faced Pepperdine and No. 13 UCLA.
The team kicked off the weekend on Friday in a match-up against Pepperdine. Despite some late heroics by senior guard Qwedia Wallace and company, the Owls fell to the Waves, 73-69.
The Waves spent much of the game with a sizable lead, as many as 14 points, as they connected on 12 three-pointers on 23 attempts. Sophomore forward Kelsey Patrick led the team with 18 points while going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
While Pepperdine was able to connect from long distance, the Owls were unable to make easy free throws, as the team shot a paltry 50 percent from the line. Pepperdine only missed once out of 16 attempts.
Wallace put together another solid performance for the Owls as she tried to lead a comeback throughout the game, but her 14 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds weren’t enough to put the team over the top.
Junior guard Satoria Bell chipped in another impressive performance alongside Wallace, scoring 16 points on the night and senior forward Marli Bennett added another 13 points.
But the Owls were no match for a Pepperdine squad that saw four players reach double-digit points. Junior guard Jazmine Jackson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while also managing 5 assists on the night.
Temple did manage to keep it close, however, as the team made a late push in the final minute and a half. Wallace capped off a nine-point run with a trey to cut the score to 71-69, but the Waves nailed a clutch shot in the final seconds to put the team up for good.
The Owls had a day off on Saturday before they took on the UCLA Bruins. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same as the team fell, 71-61, to close out the Thanksgiving holiday.
Temple played well in an effort to put the Pepperdine game behind them, as the team led UCLA for most of the game. The Owls were up, 50-44, halfway through the second half and seemed in control until the Bruins went on a 16-2 run that put them in the lead for good.
Temple was never able to regain the momentum as the Bruins hovered around a 10-point lead for the remainder of the game.
Sophomore forward Markel Walker led UCLA with 15 points and nine rebounds on the night. Senior guard Darxia Morris and junior guard Rebekah Gardner also posted 14 points and 15 points, respectively.
Wallace struggled against the Bruins, as she managed only six points in the contest. Junior forward Kristen McCarthy put together her first dominant performance of the season as she tallied 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including five buckets from downtown. She also recorded a team-high nine rebounds.
The Owls had a much better shooting night against the Bruins as they hit 11 free throws on 17 attempts and managed a 10-for-23 outing from three-point land. Both teams had similar shooting percentages, around 44 percent on the night, but the Bruins outshot the Owls by 17 attempts.
UCLA also managed to score 20 points in the paint and 27 points off of Temple turnovers. The Owls only managed 10 points and 20 points in both of those categories, respectively.
The losses drop the Owls to 2-4 on the season. The team already dropped its first two games before evening its record with two straight games before the losses against Pepperdine and UCLA.
The Owls look to get their season back on track when they return home for their next game against Rutgers on Dec. 1.
Jake Adams can be reached at jake.adams@temple.edu.
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