Still undefeated in Atlantic Ten Conference play, the Temple women’s basketball team will take on two more conference opponents this week as it looks to keep its 12-game winning streak alive.
Coming off a 72-63 win over La Salle, the Owls will hit the road on Wednesday to take on George Washington in the nation’s capital.
While Temple has dominated the A-10, George Washington has struggled to a 3-7 mark in conference play and an 8-16 record overall, but the Colonials have a posted 7-4 winning record in the Smith Center this season.
The Colonials feature a balanced offensive attack led by junior forward Tara Booker, who leads the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game. Booker is also George Washington’s second-leading rebounder, pulling in an average of 6.6 per game.
Sophomore guard Danni Jackson also averages double-digit points for the Colonials by scoring 10.2 per game. She has been efficient in running the point for George Washington by posting a 96-75 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
Junior guard Tiana Myers and sophomore guard Megan Nipe complement Jackson in the backcourt by averaging 9.6 and nine points per game, respectively.
George Washington coach Mike Bozeman has utilized almost his entire roster in his third season with the Colonials. All but two players on the team average less than 16 minutes per game, so Temple should expect to see a number of substitutions from Bozeman on Wednesday.
If the Owls can take care of business at George Washington, they will return home to face Dayton at the Liacouras Center Saturday night.
With a potential 14-game winning streak on the line, the Owls will have to stop junior forward Justine Raterman, who averages a team-high 16 points per game while shooting 53 percent from the floor. Raterman ranks fifth in the conference in scoring and leads her team in rebounding by grabbing 7.3 per game.
The Owls will also have to keep a close eye on senior guard Kristin Daugherty, who shoots 49.2 percent from beyond the arc. She is the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.7 points per game and pulls in 4.1 rebounds per game.
Temple will have its hands full with Raterman and Daugherty, who both rank within the Top five three-pointer shooters in the conference, but Dayton also possesses another productive guard in junior Patrice Lalor.
Lalor leads the team in steals with 1.6 per game while averaging 8.9 points per game. She also leads the team in assists by dishing a team-high 85 on the season.
Beyond its Top 3 scorers, Dayton lacks a great deal of scoring power but still leads the conference in scoring offense with 77.1 points per game. The Flyers greatest weakness comes on defense where the team surrenders 68.4 points per game.
Dayton will provide a difficult test for Temple as the team prepares for a final regular season showdown with No. 6 Xavier on Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. and then gears up for the post-season.
-Jeffrey Janiczek
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