After taking a 17-point lead into halftime, it looked like Temple’s second-half slow starts were going to carry into Saturday’s matchup against Charlotte. The Owls sleepwalked coming out of the locker room and the 49ers cut the lead to eight with six minutes to go.
However, Temple kicked into second gear and never let the lead get any smaller. The Owls went on a scoring barrage and the lead became 18 points in the blink of an eye. The 49ers never had a response as the Owls went into cruise control to earn their third straight victory.
Temple (11-6, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) cruised past Charlotte (5-12, 0-6 AAC) 80-62 Saturday afternoon at The Liacouras Center. The Owls’ three-game win streak is their longest of the season.
“It felt good to get a good win,” said head coach Diane Richardson. “I think our defense dictated the game, that’s what we planned. Our student athletes followed the scouts and we came out with a win.”
Temple set the tone early by sinking its first three shots to sprint to an 8-2 lead. The Owls began to pull away with six takeaways in just four minutes which helped them extend their lead to ten late in the first quarter. The 49ers finished the quarter with nine turnovers and Temple capitalized, scoring 12 points off Charlotte’s miscues.
The Owls have had issues with efficiency on the offensive end of the floor throughout the season, but that wasn’t the case in the first 10 minutes as they shot 65% from the field. Forward Jaleesa Molina impressed as she finished the quarter with eight points and made all three of her shots. Charlotte struggled toward the end of the quarter and didn’t score for the final two minutes as Temple extended its lead to 25-12.
Molina has been crucial for the Owls since conference play started. The sophomore finished the game with 15 points on a perfect 5-5 from the field and corralled in 11 rebounds. The performance marked her second consecutive double-double and fourth through six AAC games this season.
Temple cooled off to start the second quarter as it missed four of its first five shot attempts. The 49ers failed to take advantage and could not create any offensive opportunities. They suffered a field goal drought that lasted more than six minutes which allowed the Owls to steady the ship after the slow start and make four straight shots to go up by 16.
Despite an underwhelming performance from the 49ers, they took better care of the ball in the second quarter, only turning the ball over three times. But Temple wasn’t affected and marched into the half with a dominant 44-27 lead.
“Even if our offense isn’t working, our defense is what’s going to start our offense and help give us confidence,” said guard Tristen Taylor. “If Charlotte’s confidence is down, it just boosts ours more and more throughout the whole game.”
The Owls’ blew double-digit leads in the second half of their last two games and the same story nearly unfolded Saturday. The 49ers came out of the locker room and ripped off an 11-2 run to bring the lead down to single digits.
Unlike previous games, Temple found a response with a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 14. Both teams severely struggled from three-point range all afternoon as they went a combined 2-22 through three quarters. The three-point struggles continued into the final ten minutes with the Owls and 49ers going 2-4 and 1-3, respectively to close out the game.
Charlotte’s offense was unable to remain consistent as it went through another five minute stretch without a field goal. Temple took advantage of the drought with an 8-2 run to grow its lead to 18, the largest of the night at that point.
The 49ers refused to quit and started the fourth quarter 3-4 from the field, but were unable to maintain the efficiency. Temple guard Tarriyonna Gary continued her hot shooting with a three-pointer to slow Charlotte’s momentum. Gary was the only Owl to connect on a shot from beyond the arc and she knocked down three of them on the afternoon.
The Owls dominated on the glass all game and that was encapsulated perfectly when they grabbed three straight offensive rebounds on a single possession, which resulted in a free throw from forward Amaya Oliver. Temple cruised to an 18-point victory, its second largest of the season, led by Gary’s 18 points and Molina’s double-double.
“We are striving to be at the top and trying to focus on that, we’ve got to focus on each game,” Richardson said. “As a head coach I’m just really pleased and I think as long as we play together, we’re going to be alright.”
Temple will look to extend its win streak to four games when it travels to Greenville, North Carolina, to take on East Carolina (10-7, 2-3 AAC) on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m.
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