Updated: Jan. 9 at 12:11 a.m.
In the final two minutes of regulation, Temple saw the lead it held for nearly three straight quarters begin to vanish. Florida Atlantic drilled a three to cut Temple’s lead down to one and followed that up with a layup to take the lead with 90 seconds remaining.
Temple guard Kaylah Turner, who had been crucial all game, stepped up and hit a three of her own to give Temple a two-point lead. A late layup by FAU tied the game and sent it to overtime where Turner made her presence known again.
FAU started overtime with a three pointer to take a 64-61 lead. Temple responded with a layup to cut the lead down to just one before Turner knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the night to give Temple the lead again. Turner extended the lead to four with a layup and made critical free throws as Temple marched away with the victory.
Temple (9-6, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) escaped against FAU (9-7, 1-2 AAC) with a 75-69 overtime win Wednesday night at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena in Boca Raton, Florida. Temple held a 13-point third quarter lead but needed an extra period to come away with the victory.
Temple got off to a sluggish start with four quick turnovers and its first five shots missing the target. FAU raced out to an early 8-1 lead following Temple’s self-caused miscues. Temple’s shots began to fall after a media timeout as guard Tarriyonna Gary made a layup to get the gears churning. The bucket kickstarted a 15-1 run to close the quarter with a 16-9 lead, anchored by an Owls’ defense that forced five turnovers.
FAU struggled offensively during Temple’s run as it missed nine straight field goals to end the first quarter. Temple ranked seventh in the AAC in three pointers attempted and made per game coming into the matchup. However, Temple attempted a staggering 11 threes through the first quarter.
The momentum Temple found at the end of the first quarter was quickly zapped to open the second. FAU got off to a blazing 9-0 run to open up the period to take the lead. Temple forward Jaleesa Molina answered with a three-pointer and Turner drilled another to take the lead back in a flash. FAU guard Jada Moore single-handedly kept her team in reach with 13 of FAU’s 20 second-quarter points.
Temple continued to bombard FAU with threes, finishing the half with 19 attempts. However, Temple could not bury the hatchet on FAU as it only connected on six of those attempts. A late FAU run allowed them to go into halftime down just 33-29.
A 9-2 run to open the second half allowed Temple to gain its largest lead of the night at 42-31. FAU was stuck in the mud offensively, starting the half just 2-10 from the field. However, Temple failed to capitalize on FAU’s struggles, going on its own scoring drought for nearly four minutes.
FAU started to find its form to close out the quarter but still found itself unable to get within striking distance. Both teams hit exactly five shots in the quarter as Temple held a 49-41 lead to close out the period. Temple missed Gary for most of the third quarter after getting into foul trouble within the first minute.
FAU opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to bring its deficit down to just two at 49-47. Temple combated the comeback effort by getting two quick buckets to extend the lead back to six, but FAU refused to go down quietly.
Temple’s lead was trimmed down to just one point at 55-54 with five minutes remaining following a 7-2 FAU run. Temple head coach Diane Richardson called a timeout to slow down FAU and it worked. FAU went on a scoring drought of nearly four minutes, but Temple once again failed to capitalize as it only made one shot in that span.
FAU’s offense woke back up and took the lead for the first time since the second quarter when guard Mya Perry hit a three and Moore made a layup to put them up by one with 90 seconds left. Turner immediately responded as she was left wide open behind the arc and drilled a three to put Temple back up by two. A well-designed play set FAU up for an easy layup to tie the game in the final 30 seconds to send the game into overtime.
FAU got off to a perfect start in overtime as Perry hit a three to give them a quick advantage. Gary cut the FAU lead down to one as she made her first shot since the first half. From there, Turner took complete control of the game.
Turner followed Gary’s basket with her fifth three-pointer to give Temple a two-point lead. Turner then made a layup on the next possession to push Temple’s lead to 69-65 and it never looked back. Temple held strong defensively and made its free throws in the final minute to pick up the 75-69 victory.
Temple will look to keep the momentum going when it returns to The Liacouras Center to take on Tulsa (8-8, 2-2 AAC) on Jan. 11 at 2 p.m.
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