Temple University women’s basketball (2-0) continued its strong start to the season yesterday, defeating Duquesne University 85-72 at McGonigle Hall Friday night.
The Owls used a strong third quarter to coast to victory against the Dukes. Temple fell to Duquesne last season, losing 54-53 in January.
The Owls ripped off a 13-0 run, beginning with one minute and 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter and ending with nine minutes and 16 seconds remaining in the fourth. They shot 50 percent from field goals during the third and 61.5 percent during the fourth.
They also shot 60 percent from three-point field goals in the second half, with 18 of their 48 points coming from 3-point shots. Most of those three-point shots came from sophomore guard Marissa Mackins, who hit 4 of 6 three-point attempts.
“One difference between this year and last year is that we are tougher,” Mackins said. “They are bigger and stronger than us. This time, we came out better.”
The Owls faced a 2-3 zone in the first half. They faced the same defensive look against Fairfield University on Tuesday and scored 77 points against them.
“With the 2-3 zone, they tried to take something away from us,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “We needed to find a different way to combat it because they took certain plays away from us. We need to continue to make adjustments.”
Junior forward Mia Davis made the 14th double-double of her career with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Her usage rate was the highest among all Temple players.
“We wanted to get Mia more involved,” Cardoza said. “[Redshirt-senior guard Paige] Cannon wasn’t able to guard Mia off the dribble. We needed more movement on offense and they couldn’t defend us off the bounce in general. Then, they made the switch to play more man-to-man in the second half.”
Davis got her way to the basket with ease in the second half, scoring 14 points off of layups and adding four more off of free throws.
Despite significant offensive contributions from Mackins and Davis, the Owls did not pull away from the Dukes until the end of the third quarter. Duquesne’s 57 percent three-point shooting in the second quarter enabled them to pull to within three points at the end of the first half.
Temple will play St. Joseph’s on Monday at 7 p.m.
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