
Coming out of halftime, Temple and East Carolina’s offenses were stuck in the mud. Both teams shot below 35% from the field in the first half and were looking for an offensive burst to gain momentum for a crucial conference win.
On the first offensive possession of the third quarter, forward Jaleesa Molina buried a three from the top of the key to give the Owls a double-digit lead. A few minutes later, guard Tarriyonna Gary made a three of her own.
The three-pointers seemed to wake up the rest of the offense as the Owls poured in 27 third-quarter points. The defense played just as well in the third quarter, holding the Pirates without a made field goal for the first seven minutes after halftime. Temple led by 20 points by the time the third quarter came to an end and it cruised through the fourth quarter to pick up the win.
Temple (12-6, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) dominated ECU (10-8, 2-4 AAC) 69-52 Wednesday afternoon at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, North Carolina. With Temple’s fourth straight win, the Owls are one victory away from matching their five-game win streak from last season.
Both offenses opened the game ice cold, neither finding their footing in the first five minutes of play. Despite the slow start, it was Temple who managed to jump out to an early 8-4 lead behind its defense’s ability to force turnovers.
As the first quarter went on, neither team could heat up on offense. Temple was shooting just 35% from the field while ECU was shooting just 21% by the end of the first 10 minutes. The Owls’ defense forced seven turnovers in the opening quarter to help them take a 16-11 lead.
The offensive performances somehow got even colder in the second quarter as the teams combined to score just 16 points. Temple only connected on six shots, but its defense continued to maintain control of the game and held the Pirates to just two field goals.
The Owls forced 16 turnovers in the first half and converted those into 14 points to take a 25-18 lead into halftime. No player scored more than six points in the first half, but seven of the nine players who saw action found the bottom of the basket.
The Owls’ offense finally thawed out and began to take command of the game coming out of the locker room. Molina opened the second half by connecting on a three pointer, just her second of the season. A few minutes later, Gary made a three of her own to push her squad’s lead to 31-18. Temple’s defense continued to play well, holding the Pirates nearly completely at bay for a majority of the third quarter.
Temple managed to break the game wide open in the middle of the third quarter behind a 13-0 run headed by Gary and guard Kaylah Turner. By the time the third quarter came to an end, the Owls’ lead had ballooned to 52-31. Temple scored 27 points in the third quarter, two more points than it scored in the entire first half, with Turner and Gary each scoring nine.
The Owls put the game into cruise control by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. The Pirates managed to bring their deficit down to as little as 13 points late in the game, but it was too late for them to make a legitimate comeback attempt.
Guard Tiarra East, who had been in a shooting slump of late, finally broke out in the final quarter of play. She scored 15 of Temple’s 17 fourth quarter points and finished as the leading scorer with 19. Turner and Gary were the only other Owls in double figures scoring 14 and 13, respectively. Temple also forced 28 turnovers and shot 57% from three to pick up its fifth conference win.
The Owls will look to win their fifth straight when they return to The Liacouras Center to take on Tulane (11-7, 4-3 AAC) on Jan. 25, at 2 p.m.
Be the first to comment