Bahama beatdown

Coming off of two road losses to Ohio State and Northern Illinois, Temple’s women’s basketball team was hoping a trip to the Bahamas to play in the Junkanoo Jam would help end their losing streak.

It didn’t.

The Owls fell 71-59 to the defending national champions, Texas A&M, then lost 59-53 to St. Johns, extending the losing streak to four games.

The Owls struggled in the first half against Texas A&M. They committed 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and the Aggies capitalized, building an early lead. The margin stayed around the double-digit mark all the way up to halftime when the Owls trailed by 12. A 12-4 run by the defending champs pushed the lead to 48-28.

The Aggies started putting in more bench players and pulled back into a zone defense. The Owls took exception and took advantage, knocking down two quick three-pointers that started a 22-6 run. A baseline runner by senior forward Kristen McCarthy cut the lead to four with 8 minutes, 43 seconds left to go, forcing Texas A&M to call a timeout and abandon the zone defense.

The Aggies extended the lead back to 10 but again Temple made a run and cut the lead to four. A jumper and a series a free throws for the Aggies, assisted by a technical foul on the Owls’ coach Tonya Cardoza, who admittedly was upset with the officiating, helped get the Texas A&M lead up to 12. The final buzzer sounded with the score 71-59, despite Temple’s aggressive fight and near-comeback in the second half. Senior guard BJ Williams led the Owls’ scoring with 19, while McCarthy complemented with 16.

The consolation game against St. John’s started much smoother for Temple. Balanced scoring and solid defense helped the Owls gain an early lead. A 7-1 run with nine minutes to go in the first half gave the Owls their largest lead of the game at 12. A few minutes later, a three-pointer for the Red Storm started a 10-2 run that cut the halftime deficit to four.

Senior guard Shey Peddy converted two early lay-ups in the second half pushing the lead to six but St. John’s countered with a 6-0 run to tie the score. The Owls took little leads but couldn’t deliver a knockout punch and by the ten-minute mark, the score was tied again. The Owls never led again. The lead was cut from six to three in the final minute but the Owls squandered their two chances to tie it with a missed basket and a turnover. The loss dropped Temple’s record to 2-4.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Cherry and White as they’ll travel to Piscataway, New Jersey to face off with #13 Rutgers on November 30.

-Brandon Stoneberg