PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (2/1/12) – The Temple Owls women’s basketball team had three players score in the twenties as they earn an 80 – 70 Atlantic 10 victory over the host Saint Joseph’s Hawks at the Hagan Arena. Senior guard Shey Peddy led all scorers with a game-high 26 points, 19 of which she scored in the seconds half. Fellow Senior guard Kristen McCarthy added 20 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. Temple usually gets production from their two leading scorers. In this game the Owls got a big contribution from Junior center Victoria Macaulay. She scored a career-high 21 points making 8 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. The performance by Macaulay tilted the game in the direction of Temple.
The game saw the Owls take an early lead and was able to keep ahead for the entire game. Temple was able to withstand Saint Joseph’s staying in contention for the remainder of the game until they got separation over the last ten minutes to secure the victory. Getting the lead and keeping the lead was an important factor for Temple.
“It is so important because they (Saint Joseph’s) can score so quickly,” Cardoza said. “They are so dangerous offensively they have so many different weapons. We kept saying that we had to get stops, just concentrating on getting stops. If we get stops, good things happen on the offensive end.”
Temple got a lead early in the game. With 6:29 to play in the first half the Owls went in front 31 – 17, and appeared to be in control. Saint Joseph’s would mount a comeback outscoring Temple 15 – 4 to halftime. At the break Temple led 25 – 32. In the second half the Temple lead fluctuated between 3 and 7 points. The Owls led 49 – 46 at the 11:51 mark. An 8 – 1 run punctuated by a Shey Peddy three-pointer with 10:02 to play gave Temple a 57 – 47 advantage. Saint Joseph’s would come no closer than 7 points for the remainder of the game. Over the last five and a half minutes the Owls made 15 of 16 free throws to keep the Hawks at bay.
“The key was getting into the one and one early,” Cardoza said.
There were four players to score in double-digits for the Hawks. Senior forward Samira Van Grinsven and Junior guard Ashley Prim each had 13 points. Prim added 8 assists. Senior guard Michelle Baker had 12 points, while fellow Senior guard Katie Kuester scored 10.
The Owls now have a six game winning streak and improve to 13 – 8 overall, and are 7 – 1 in the Atlantic 10. Temple hosts Fordham on February 4. Their winning streak over Saint Joseph’s stands at 12 games. Winning a city game matters to Coach Cardoza and the team.
“Even though the Big Five is out of our hands, you still want to win a city game,” said Cardoza.
Saint Joseph’s is 14 – 7 on the season, 4 – 3 in conference play. The Hawks travel to Richmond on February 4 for their next contest. Saint Joseph’s pointed to this game as the one they needed. The Hawks did not get it, and they will need to bounce back.
“It’s really disappointing,” said Griffin. “We wanted to win. We have this on our back, and we want to get it off. It’s going to be off, just when is it going to happen? It’s frustrating, but this team is resilient. We have a lot of character. I expect us to bounce back in practice and get ready for our next game.”
The two teams meet again on February 22 at McGonigle Hall. That game will have impact on the Atlantic 10 seeding, and it will be a Big Five game.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
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