Senior guard Shey Peddy set yet another milestone in Temple’s opening round matchup against Quinnipiac in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
The Atlantic-Ten Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year knocked down 21 points in the Owls’ 75-60 victory over Quinnipiac, giving her 1,001 points in just two seasons on North Broad.
“For her to be able to do that in two years is a credit to her and her teammates,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “And she’s played with [senior guard BJ Williams] the last two years and [Williams] should be credited for her thousand points as well because [Williams’] always going to find her.”
Williams, dished out six assists on the night, including two to Peddy. Williams now sits at 357 career assists, needing just two to move into fifth-place in school history. She’s also tied for fourth in single-season assists with 147.
Peddy, wasn’t nearly as excited about the accomplishment, simply looking forward to winning a WNIT championship.
“I’m happy,” she said. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, it’s a good accomplishment, but like coach said, we’re just trying to get a championship.”
Peddy was also nursing a broken nose, which she suffered in the A-10 quarterfinals win over Duquesne. She wore a facemask throughout the game.
“It’s a little irritating, but it’s something that I have to get used to and adjust to,” Peddy said. “By Saturday I’ll be fine.”
Cardoza also took the chance to continue the friendly rivalry she has with her star guard, as both hail from the same hometown.
“That’s an amazing accomplishment for anyone to score a thousand in two years,” Cardoza said with a smile. “I don’t think I did that, so that’s one step.”
The Owls were all smiles after the convincing first-round win over the Bobcats. After trailing 16-13 in the first half Temple went on a 14-0 run and never looked back. At one point they had a 27-point lead.
Peddy lead the way with 21 points, but she wasn’t alone in the effort. Junior center Victoria Macaulay converted seven of eight for 17 points, and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior guard Kristen McCarthy had another solid game, recording her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
But if it wasn’t for Peddy’s big night, junior forward Brittany Lewis would have stolen the show. Lewis was one assist away from her first career triple-double, tallying 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. This comes just one game after scoring a career-high 19 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds in the A-10 semifinals loss to Dayton.
“I think just working hard and practice and carrying over to the game just being a little more aggressive going to the boards and also being aggressive to the basket,” Lewis said about the past two games.
Cardoza, though, was quick to poke fun that Lewis nearly had a quadruple-double, as she also had seven turnovers.
The Owls didn’t play poorly despite clearly being upset at not making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years. Instead they appear focused on trying to come away with the school’s first WNIT championship.
“We don’t blame the committee, we blame ourselves, because we put ourselves in that position,” Cardoza said. “Now there’s an opportunity to win this championship.”
Next up for the Owls is a date with the Harvard. The Crimson upset Hofstra 73-71 on Thursday. Temple will host the game on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
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