March 7, 2009

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Junior LaKeisha Eaddy scored a game-high 26 points, including seven of her team's final eight points, to lead Temple to a 67-63 victory over St. Bonaventure on Saturday evening in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Halton Arena.

The Bonnies magical season, which saw St. Bonaventure collect a program record 21 wins, is not over yet as they will now have to wait and see if they receive a bid to a postseason tournament. Temple improves to 21-8 and will face the winner of the #3 Charlotte/#6 Duquesne game in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon.

The Brown and White were led by junior Dana Mitchell who poured in a team-high 24 points on 10-of-18 from the field to go along with six rebounds. Freshman Megan Van Tatenhove was next in line, tying her season-high with 17 points on 6-of-10 from the field while collecting a team-high eight rebounds.

Three Owls reached double figures led by Eaddy, who collected her 26 points on 9-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point territory. Shaqwedia Wallace and Jasmine Stone were the other double figure scorers, chipping in 12 points apiece for Temple in the victory.

For the game, the Bonnies shot 41 percent (24-59) from the field and 47 percent (7-15) from three-point land. Temple on the other hand, shot 44 percent (23-52) from the field and 64 percent (14-22) from the free throw line.

Mitchell would be the offense for St. Bonaventure early on. Mitchell would score the Bonnies first seven points of the game to put the Brown and White up 7-1 with 17:17 to go in the first half. Senior Katelyn Murray would extend the Bonnies lead up to 10-3 after draining a three-pointer from the wing with 15:48 remaining in the first.

Temple would come storming back, however, using a 13-3 run over the next four minutes of the game. Back-to back three pointers by Eaddy and Wallace, followed by a Stone lay in would put the Owls ahead 16-13 with 11:20 left in the first.

The Brown and White would claw their way back into the game using the strong play of Van Tatenhove. The Sheboygan Falls, Wis. product, scored nine-straight points for the Bonnies to make the score 23-22 Temple with 6:25 remaining.

Just as St. Bonaventure looked ready to re-take the lead, Temple would rip off another decisive scoring run. The Owls would use a 12-3 run over the next 3:45 of the game to establish some separation. A three-pointer by Wallace would cap the run and give Temple a 34-25 lead with just 2:40 left in the first stanza.

Senior Priscilla Edwards would hit a late three-pointer for the Bonnies to trim the Owls lead down to 36-28 going into intermission.

Temple would not let up, however, continuing its strong offensive play to start the second. Eaddy ,who spearhead the charge, nailed a three-pointer and a off-balance jumper on consecutive possessions to put the Owls up 43-30 with 16:44 to go in the second half.

Mitchell would come alive again and bring the Bonnies back, after sitting most of the first half due to foul trouble. Mitchell would score seven-straight points for the Brown and White, the last two coming on an acrobatic baseline lay in , to make the score 48-42 Temple with 11:04 to go in the game.

The game would go back and forth for the next few minutes with the Bonnies unable to cut into the Owls six-point lead. Eaddy would hit a three-pointer to stretch the Temple lead to nine, but Murray would come right back and drill a trifecta of her own, on the next trip down the court, to make the score 55-49 with 6:06 left in the second half.

The Brown and White would finally break the back and forth affair when Van Tatenhove converted a three-point play to bring St. Bonaventure within four, 63-59, with just 1:29 left in regulation. Mitchell would hit a jumper after a pair of Eaddy free throws to keep the Temple lead at four with just 17 seconds to go in the game.

After Temple missed the front end of a one-and-one Mitchell would drive to the basket on the baseline and throw in a layup, over two Temple defenders, to pull St. Bonaventure within two, 65-63, with four seconds left in the game.

The Brown and White would intentionally foul Eaddy on the next possession and she promptly stepped up hit two clutch free throws to give the Owls the 67-63 win. Priscilla Edwards also had solid games for the Bonnies tallying 12 points while handing out a team-high four assists in the loss.

St. Bonaventure will now have to wait until March 16, which is the day when the Women's NCAA Tournament and the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) fields are announced, to see if its magical 2008-09 season will continue.