Temple University women’s basketball (4-5, 4-2 The American Athletic Conference) dropped their second straight conference game, losing to Houston (8-4, 5-3 The American) by a score of 80-46 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Owls started the game fast with an 11-0 run in the first quarter, but Houston responded with a 22-4 run that put the game out of reach by the second quarter. Temple struggled taking care of the basketball all game, committing 30 turnovers with 10 in the first quarter alone.
“At least 10 or 15 of those turnovers we literally handed the ball right to them,” said head coach Tonya Cardoza. “We’re giving them free points with these turnovers.”
Not only did Temple give the ball away frequently, but they struggled to get it back. The Cougars outrebounded Temple 61-36, with Temple allowing Houston to come down with 31 offensive rebounds while only pulling down 13 themselves.
“They took it right to us, especially on the offensive rebounds,” Cardoza said.
Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field, but Houston took 81 field goal attempts while Temple only took 57. The Owls made just two of their 12 3-point shots, and Houston made seven of their 19 attempts from 3-point range.
Temple played most of this game with their best player, senior forward Mia Davis, in foul trouble. Davis picked up two early fouls and had to sit with six minutes and 17 seconds left in the first quarter, not returning until the second quarter.
“We can’t win without Mia [Davis],” Cardoza said. “She has to be smarter and not put herself in those situations because it’s going to be hard to win basketball games without her.”
Davis had to sit most of the third quarter as well when she picked up two more fouls early in the second half and did not return until the fourth quarter. She finished with a season low of five points on just two-of-eight shooting from the field.
“It felt like we just stood around and watched a lot,” Cardoza said. “We didn’t have the fire or intensity you need to come on the road and beat a team like Houston.”
Freshman guard Jasha Clinton was the only Owl to score more than 10 points in the game. She finished with 14 points and shot six-of-12 from the field, including one-of-three from 3-point range.
Temple will return home to take on Wichita State (3-5, 0-3, The American) on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1 pm.
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