Heading into the final four minutes, Temple was trailing East Carolina by five points and hadn’t scored in more than two minutes. That’s when Temple guard Kaylah Turner stepped up and caught fire, helping force a turnover that led to a layup from guard Tarriyonna Gary.
Turner used the momentum to steal the ball and make a layup of her own — her first points of the night, to cut the Pirates’ lead down to just one. Turner continued to come up clutch, making a jumper with just under two minutes remaining to give the Owls the lead.
Turner followed it up with another crucial shot, this time from three-point range with 25 seconds remaining in the game. East Carolina wasn’t able to respond as Temple held on and pulled away with the victory.
Temple (8-5, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) slid past ECU (8-6, 0-2 AAC) 63-58 Wednesday evening at The Liacouras Center. Turner was the only bench player to score and Gary finished the night with a career-high 26 points.
“It was a hard fought game and it was up and down, but we were resilient,” said head coach Diane Richardson. “We knew that our defense was going to have to pull us through this game and that’s one thing we can depend on, when our shots aren’t falling and we’ve got to step up.”
The Owls got off to a slow start in the first quarter as East Carolina jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. Temple quickly bounced back by embarking on a 14-0 run that completely flipped the momentum in its favor. The run included four straight three-pointers, three of which came from Gary, who finished the half with 18 points.
The Pirates were unable to handle the pressure from Temple’s defense and turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter. Despite its struggles, East Carolina scored as time expired to cut Temple’s lead down to just three at 22-19.
The Owls’ impressive shooting streak seemed to fall off in the second quarter as they missed their first four field goals. The Pirates could not capitalize on the slump, with their first field goal of the quarter not coming until three minutes in. Both teams eventually found their rhythm and traded buckets back-and-forth in the middle of the quarter.
While Temple continued to dominate the turnover battle, forcing five and giving up just two, it struggled from three-point range. The Owls went 1-9 from downtown after knocking down four of their six attempts in the first quarter. The persistent defense kept the Owls in the game and allowed them to maintain control going into halftime leading 36-30.
“We just knew we had to be resilient and fight and play aggressive defense,” Gary said. “Even if you weren’t scoring on offense it was really important that we just stayed aggressive.”
ECU came out of the break with a new spark of aggression. The Pirates forced two turnovers within the first 30 seconds and cut Temple’s lead to just two points. Richardson was forced to call an early timeout to try and slow the Pirates’ momentum.
The Owls’ shooting slump continued into the second half. Temple went nearly eight minutes without a field goal until forward Amaya Oliver found a spark by sinking two free throws and followed it up with a layup to take the 44-40 lead.
The Pirates once again failed to capitalize on Temple’s struggles as they shot 4-17 from the field in the third quarter. However, East Carolina cut its deficit to just four points following a layup with seven seconds remaining in the quarter. The Owls’ bench struggled on offense immensely and went into the final 10 minutes of play with no points.
East Carolina started the fourth quarter fiercely, jumping out on a 6-0 run and taking the lead for the first time since the opening quarter. Despite winning the turnover battle in the first half, things completely flipped for the Owls in the second half as they turned the ball over 13 times.
Temple suddenly found the momentum it was lacking. The Owls forced three consecutive turnovers and went on an 8-1 run to snatch back the lead with just under two minutes remaining to play. The Pirates responded with a layup to tie the game, but Turner answered with a three-pointer to give the Owls the 61-58 lead. ECU was unable to make anything happen as Temple picked up the 63-58 victory.
“[Turner] was a little tight early on, but we coached her out of it and told her, ‘Listen, you can do this, just settle down,’” Richardson said. “I think that lifted her and she made that game-winning shot for us and that confidence is important.”
The Owls will look to win their third straight conference game when they travel to Tampa, Florida to face South Florida (8-6, 1-0 AAC) on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m.
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