Temple University women’s basketball (2-3, 2-0, The American Athletic Conference) took down Tulsa (1-2, 0-2, The American) by a score of 69-52 on Wednesday afternoon.
Junior forward Alexa Williamson followed up her 15-point performance from Sunday against Southern Methodist by scoring a career-high 20 points, along with five rebounds, a block and two steals.
“All my shots were falling, so that definitely went well,” Williamson said.
Temple received efficient scoring from their post play. Williamson went eight-of-11 from the field and four-of-five from the free-throw line. Senior forward Mia Davis went eight-of-10 from the field, scoring 17 herself, but left the game in the fourth quarter due to a leg injury.
“I thought [Williamson] stepped up,” said head coach Tonya Cardoza. “She was very efficient and we need that from her. Over these last two games she’s played with a lot of confidence, she believes in herself and she wants the ball.”
The Owls shot 54.9 percent from the field and outscored Tulsa in the paint 30-16. Generating high percentage shots has been a point of emphasis for Cardoza all season.
Temple’s size helped them generate clean looks at the hoop as Williamson and Davis provide a height mismatch many teams in the American will struggle to guard, Cardoza said.
“One of them is probably going to have a mismatch in every game,” Cardoza added. “So if that’s our strength we definitely have to take advantage of it.”
The Owls’ offense had more success shooting from outside than they did on Sunday when they did not make a 3-pointer. Today, the Owls shot six-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The threat of outside shooting made it easier for Temple’s post players to score because the defense was running to contest 3-pointers, leaving the paint open, Williamson said.
The Owls also held the Golden Hurricanes to just 30 percent shooting from the field for the game, and just 21.9 percent in the second half.
“We did a better job of contesting their shots more and not giving them open looks,” Cardoza said.
The Owls will have some time off for the holidays. They resume play on Dec. 30th when they will travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane (4-3, 0-2, The American).
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