Coming out of halftime on Saturday, Temple was down by three and looking for a chance to seize the lead against the Bulls. The Owls were without major performances from their leading scorers and if their stars could get its gears moving, they were likely to escape with a win.
Instead, the Owls spiraled out of control and never recovered, going nine minutes before scoring their first field goal and it became a 17-point game in the blink of an eye. The Bulls took the reins and never let it go, outscoring the Owls by 12 until the final 30 seconds of the quarter to all but seal the deal on Temple’s first conference loss.
Temple (8-6, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) was outmatched by South Florida (10-6, 3-0 AAC) 65-56 on Saturday night at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. Temple’s leading scorer Tiarra East finished the game with just two made field goals on the night.
After nearly three scoreless minutes, Bulls’ guard Sammie Puisis got the action started after she drilled a three-pointer. Temple guard Tariyonna Gary nailed a triple of her own to get Temple on the board on the following possession, the Owls went flat after that. They went almost two minutes without a field goal, which was broken by another Gary three.
Temple was unable to get the offensive engine going to start the game. East didn’t hit the stat sheet until the three-minute mark of the opening quarter. In relief of East’s absence, forward Anissa Rivera stepped up and carried the offensive load. The Towson transfer scored eight of Temple’s 14 first quarter points as Temple ended the quarter on a 11-5 run to take a 14-12 lead to close it out.
Rivera’s play carried into the second quarter as she single handedly kept the Owls in the game. She scored the first seven Temple points as the rest of the team struggled to keep up with the Bulls. The Owls were also bullied in the paint, as the Bulls grabbed 21 first half rebounds while Temple had just nine. South Florida hauled six offensive rebounds but were held to just three second chance points.
Despite the lack of offensive firepower from Temple, the Bulls couldn’t push the lead.
Puisis hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to give South Florida a six point lead but it didn’t last. Rivera scored five straight and suddenly the lead was just one. Puisis responded with a bucket before a three-pointer by guard Kelian Cedano tied the game. In a desperation attempt to get points before the half, Puisis chucked up a three, which went in to send the Owls into halftime down by three.
Temple came out of the locker room looking to take control of the game, instead its miscues put the game further out of reach. Bulls guard Janette Aarino scored a field goal to kickstart a 18-4 run to begin the half. The Owls’ issues continued in the second half, especially on the boards as they were outrebounded 15-5 in the quarter.
Puisis looked to follow up her 18-point first half by scoring eight of the Bulls’ first 12 third quarter points. She cooled off after and Gary nailed three free throws in an attempt to bring Temple back into the game. It was false hope as the Bulls went on a 8-2 run to push the lead to 17. The Owls responded by scoring five quick points to give them some momentum heading into the final quarter of play.
The Owls went into the fourth quarter and the offense finally started to click. Forward Jaleesa Molina followed up her double-double against ECU on Jan. 1 with nine points in the second half. Molina’s play took over for Rivera who went silent in the third quarter. Rivera woke up in the fourth quarter with six and ended the night with 19 but the game was already out of reach.
Temple scored 21 fourth quarter points but it couldn’t make up for its first half blunders. Puisis went scoreless, but finished the game with 26 points, just two points shy of her career high. Forward Carla Brito made up for her absence with eight points in the final 10 minutes. Temple was able to finish with 16 forced turnovers but weren’t able to take advantage of the extra possessions as South Florida cruised to the win.
The Owls will hope to bounce back when they are back in action against Florida Atlantic (9-6, 1-1 AAC) on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.
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