PHILADELPHIA, PA. 2/5/2020 – The Temple Owls women’s basketball team came into the game against the Shockers of Wichita Stated looking to move into sole possession of third place in the American with a win. The Owls did not get that losing 85 – 75 to Wichita State at McGonigle Hall. And turnovers were the reason why.
Temple committed 20 turnovers and that gave disruptive Wichita State a 34 – 14 advantage in points off turnovers.
“We turned the ball over too many times,” said Temple guard Marissa Mackins. “They scored thirty-four points off of turnovers. I had six myself and that’s unacceptable. You can’t turn the ball over that many times.”
“That should not happen in a game no matter what,” said fellow backcourt mate Ashley Jones.
“Sometimes we were trying to be quick and rushed. We should have settled down and took it easy,”
It was most evident in the second quarter when the Cherry and White made 9 turnovers and were outscored 24 – 9. The visitors got 16 points off miscues, the home team got none.
The Owls did not shoot badly making 26 of 61 from the floor (42.6%) but could only convert 7 of 21 three-pointers. Jones tied her career-high in scoring with 24 points making 8 of 17 and 3 of 9 from distance. Mackins added 18 points.
Meanwhile, the Shockers made more than half of their shots (31 of 61) and drained 15 of 27 from beyond the arc. They got easy baskets and took the open three when it was there. It was the most points scored by the Shockers in league play this season.
“A lot it boils down to having pride on the defensive side,” said Temple Coach Tonya Cardoza. “They are a team that averages in the low 60’s, and we gave them 85 points. It is going to be hard for us to win games if we don’t commit on the defensive end. You have to take pride and get stops.”
Maya Brewer had a team-high 19 points for Wichita State (13 – 10, 5 – 5) hitting 5 of 6 from three-point land. Ashley Reid had 15 points, all from behind the line in addition to handing out 6 assists. Seraphine Bastin filled the stat sheet with 13 points and 8 rebounds and 8 assists. D.J. McCarty scored 14 points while Asia Henderson had 10, all from inside the arc.
The Owls got double figures scoring from Alexa Williamson, matching her career-high, and Asonah Alexander who each contributed 12 points. Mia Davis scored 9 points, only the second game where she was held under 10 points and stopped a streak of 13 games scoring in double figures.
Temple drops to 13 – 9 overall and is 5 – 4 in the conference. The Owls now are in a three-way tie for fifth place with UCF and Houston. Wichita State is a half-game behind them. The Owls go to #25 South Florida for a game on Sunday. USF is tied with Cincinnati for third place in the American. The conference tournament is a month away.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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