Nine Players Score for Temple in 62 – 54 Victory
January 15, 2022 –
For the second time in almost a month the Temple Owls women’s basketball team took to the court. Using defense and strength in numbers The Owls defeated the Houston Cougars. Mia Davis led the way with 22 points and 9 rebounds, but many more players filled the stat line. Credit this win as a team effort.
“It helps a lot, obviously starting with Mia,” Cardoza said about others getting points. “She was tough for them to defend and started us off. It might not have been double figures, but we had a lot of guys get on the boxscore. That was important because it was hard for them to key off on one because other guys stepped up. We did a good job of taking care of the ball, getting downhill when we needed to. We had a lot of guys get offensive minded.”
Nine of ten players got at least one point. All ten would contribute not only in points, but in rebounds, assists and steals in getting this win.
Alexa Williamson scored 10 points, took down 6 rebounds, and stole the ball 3 times. Aniya Gourdine contributed a consistent stat line getting 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and swiped the ball away twice. Jasha Clinton added 7 points and 3 assists, while Emani Mayo scored 5 points. Four other Owls contributes something for the benefit of the team.
Laila Blair was the only Houston player who broke double-digits getting 10 points. As a team the Cougars made 18 of 57 for 31.6%, and sank but one of thirteen from beyond the arc. Houston turned the ball over 20 times compared to 13 for Temple. The Cougars never had the lead.
Rust may have been a concern going into the game, but was quickly alleviated. The Owls started strong and lead 35 – 27 at halftime. The team looked ready.
“It was a little concerning, but we were going hard in practice,” said Cardoza about playing just once in nearly thirty days. “I know it’s not the same as a game. For us it was good (the layoff) because guys get to rest their bodies or the ailments and get to take it easy. I also feel like it made them a little hungrier to want to get out there and compete. Especially because it was against Houston, a team that is really tough. Based off what happened last year our guys were hungry to want to get out there and prove to them that we’re a different team that we were.”
The last game saw the Cougars take home a 89 – 52 victory in Philadelphia.
Temple rises above .500 at 7 – 6. The Owls have a 2 – 0 conference record, and continue league play on Wednesday at ECU.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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