Temple held on to a halftime lead for as long as they could but in the end its attempts were in vain losing to George Washington 78-67 on Sunday afternoon.
The Owls (11-7, 4-3 A-10) lead at halftime 35-26 after a solid first half against the top team in the Atlantic 10. They held on to their halftime lead until the 8:37 mark when Kristeena Alexander gave Washington a 54-53 lead.
The Colonials (14-6, 8-0) then went on a 13-3 run and started to run away with the game before Regan Apo nailed a three-pointer with 2:56 left to lower the lead to eight, 69-61.
Temple had to start fouling. Even a three pointer by center Lisa Jakubowicz wasn’t enough as Temple dropped its third game out of the last four.
Temple was lead by Stacey Small’s 18 points. Jakubowicz had 14 points and eight rebounds while Ieesha Turnage pitched in 11 points.
GW was lead by Elena Vishniakova with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Alexander had 18 points and eight assists.
Duking Out the Dukes
The start of Temple’s weekend was a lot more pleasant than the ending. The team traveled to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne in a cross-state A-10 matchup.
Temple shot a pitiful 27.6 percent in the first half en route to a 15-0 deficit to start the game. The Owls went on a 24-16 run to finish the half and cut the lead to 31-24 at the half.
The Owls outscored Duquesne 36-22 in the second period to defeat the Dukes, 60-53.
Athena Christoforakis lead the way with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jakubowicz and Smalls both added 10 points while Apo scored 12 including three three pointers.
Khalihah Este-Shehu lead Duquesne with 13 points inlcuding 5-of-6 from the line. Shiri Sharon had 10 points and six assists in the game.
Sharon also had six turnovers adding to Duquesne’s 26 for the game.
Inappropriate conduct
Temple’s next opponent, St. Joe’s (Friday at the Liacouras Center, 7 p.m.), comes crosstown minus their head coach of the last nine years.
Stephanie Gaitley took a one-year paid leave of absence admist allegations that her husband, former assistant coach Frank Gaitley, was sexually harrassing former player Cheryl Kulsea.
The story which broke in the Daily News alledges that Frank Gaitley attempted to ask Kulsea out on dates. When Kulsea told Stephanie Gaitley about the incident she reportedly said, “he’ll change.”
The Daily News got it’s hand on court documents filed last September that bring forth the allegations. Kulsea has since left the basketball team and has had to undergo psychological counseling. She is also on medication to treat anti-depression, according to the Daily News.
In Gaitley’s place, long time assistant coach Regi Grennan has taken over the regins on Hawk Hilll. Since the story broke, the Hawks are 1-3.
Player of the Week
Athena Christoforakis’ 17 points and seven boards against Duquesne were enough to get the Owls out of their two-game losing streak. A late junior college signing, Christoforakis has helped an undermanned group of post players with her physical rebounding ability and hustle this season.
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