Temple’s basketball teams are heading to the courts again, facing the difficult tasks of rebuilding after the loss of key players and, on the women’s side, a key coach. Even so, the Owls have a reputation to uphold. The men’s team won the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship last season, and the women appeared in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed.
We hope Temple students will support the basketball teams throughout this season. Besides the fact that basketball is the most successful big-ame sport at Temple, games are played right across the street in the Liacouras Center.
Coach Tonya Cardoza took the helm of a competitive women’s team after coach Dawn Staley left. Her job is to create a team that can vie for an NCAA berth again this year. The team will also have to compensate for the loss of Lady Comfort and other key players who helped make the women’s team a formidable opponent last year.
On the men’s team, coach Fran Dunphy will lead the defending champions in the A-10 Conference. Dionte Christmas will see even more pressure in this, his senior year, as Mark Tyndale departed last year. The men were ranked second in the A-10 in a pre-season poll, so they will have to prove themselves this season. They also face a tough schedule, playing powerhouses Tennessee and Kansas early on in the season.
The Temple News will make it easier to follow the Owls. We will have in-depth coverage of each game online, as well as analysis in the sports section of our print edition.
That coverage starts this week, with a four-page insert detailing the stats and prospects of both the men’s and women’s teams. It will continue throughout the season, making The Temple News your source for basketball coverage.
Home games are free with your Owl Card, so there is little reason not to see a game at the Liacouras Center. We encourage Temple students to support two successful and competitive teams that are bringing fame back to Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
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