Jan. 15, 2008

Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Temple survived a furious Brown and White rally early in the second stanza to pick up a 73-62 victory over the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team on Tuesday evening at the Licacouras Center.

With the loss, the Bonnies dropped their third game in the last four contests to fall to 12-5 (0-2) on the season, while the Owls registered their 10th win in a row over the Brown and White to snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 8-10 (1-1).

For the second straight game, junior Katelyn Murray paced three Bonnies in double figures with 14 points, including an additional two three-pointers to push her into sixth place in the all-time Bona record books with 114 triples. Sophomore Andrea Doneth registered her sixth contest of at least 10 points with 13 tallies, while fellow classmate Dana Mitchell kept her 17-game double digit streak intact with 10 points on just 3-of-8 shooting from the floor.

The Atlantic 10's leading scorer was saddled with foul trouble throughout the game after picking up her third personal in the closing seconds of the first half. Her eight attempts from the field equaled a season-low set earlier this season at Canisius, while her 10 points also match her smallest offensive output since tallying an identical number at Syracuse.

The Owls became the second team in as many games to shoot over 50 percent from the field against the Brown and White after allowing just two teams to accomplish such a feat in the club's first 15 games. Temple connected at a rate of 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range.

Temple also dominated down low, outrebounding the Bonnies 37-19 for the game with 11 caroms on the offensive glass. The Owls scored 34 of their 73 points in the paint.

Sophomore LaKeisha Eaddy and freshman Lindsay Kimmel paced the Owls with 13 points apiece, while junior Shenita Landry added 12 tallies to round out the Temple double figure scorers.

Despite conceding the first seven points of the second session, the Bonnies raced out on a 13-2 run, while holding Temple to a single field goal for a 6:36 span to find themselves within three points at 47-44 with 11:12 on the clock.

Doneth's conventional three-point play at the rim sparked the game-changing spurt as the Bonnies tallied 11 consecutive points following a jumper from Landry. Junior Ashley Edwards and Senior Maripier Malo knocked down a pair of lay-ins in the lane prior to six straight Brown and White free throws.

However, the Cherry and White responded with 22 of the game's next 33 points to stretch the Owls' lead to 69-56 with 1:39 remaining in regulation to seal the club's first Atlantic 10 win of the season.

After the Bonnies second half outburst, the Brown and White came as close as five points at 54-49 following a three-pointer from Doneth that quickly ballooned back to nine points less than two minutes later as Bona never came within seven tallies the rest of the way.

Temple tallied 22 first half points in the paint to enter the locker room with a 38-31 edge after the opening 20 minutes of action. The Cherry and White shot a blistering 69.6 percent in the first half, while connecting on 16-of-23 shots from the field to build a seven point lead at the break.

Murray picked the up the scoring slack for the Bonnies with 10 first half points as Mitchell was saddled with foul trouble throughout the opening stanza.

The Owls wasted little time following the opening tip as Temple surged to an early 18-10 advantage just over eight minutes into the contest. The hot shooting Owls connected on eight of their first 11 shots, while converting 10 of their first 18 tallies off short lay-ups in the lane. Morris complemented Temple's production down low with a pair of three-pointers to stretch the home club's lead to eight points.

Following the Owls' initial outburst, Temple continued the early momentum with a 13-2 run midway through the first session to gain its largest lead of the half at 31-15 with 6:25 showing on the clock. The Bonnies failed to notch a single field goal during the 4:01 stretch as Edwards produced the Brown and White's only points on a pair of freebies from the charity stripe.

However, St. Bonaventure closed the first stanza by tallying 16 of the half's final 23 points to turn a 16-point deficit to just seven at the half. The Brown and White connected on three trifectas as well as a traditional three-point play during the spurt to bring the Bonnies within striking distance entering the second session.

Malo ignited the offensive outburst with her first three-pointer of the season for the team's first field goal in nearly five minutes. The Bona attack continued to click by scoring the game's next five points thanks to a baseline jumper from Edwards and a triple from the top of the arc from junior Erica Schiefen to cut the Temple lead to eight points at 31-23.

Murray then went on to tally five points in the final minute of the half, including a three-pointer from the left corner just before the buzzer to trim the Temple advantage to seven points at 38-31.

The Brown and White will remain on the road as the club travels to Rhode Island on Saturday, Jan. 19 in search of their first conference win following two opening defeats. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.