Women's Basketball Falls in the Final Seconds to Xavier, 54-53

Wednesday, February 20

McGonigle Hall

7:00 PM

Temple University

12-14, 5-6

Xavier

10-15, 4-7

Xavier

Temple

Rateska Brown scored 12 points for the Owls

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Women's Basketball Falls in the Final Seconds to Xavier, 54-53

2.20.13 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Xavier's Jessica Pachko hit a layup with six seconds remaining to lift her team to victory and hand Temple women's basketball a 54-53 loss on Wednesday night in McGonigle Hall. The Owls (12-14, 5-6) let a five-point lead slip away in the final minute and 30 seconds, but it was a tight game throughout with neither team ever leading by more than six.

Pachko finished with a team-high 14 points and game-high nine rebounds for Xavier (10-15, 4-7), while Shatyra Hawkes scored 13 and added four assists and four steals.

Victoria Macaulay led all scorers with 15 points. Rateska Brown added 12 off the bench for the Owls. Natasha Thames had a solid game with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field as well as seven rebounds and four steals.

The Owls tied their season-high with 14 steals, but the rewards were negated by some of their 17 turnovers which came at inopportune times. After Hawkes brought the Musketeers within a point on a layup with 11 seconds left, Temple turned the ball over on the inbounds pass after a Xavier timeout. Pachko was able to hit the go-ahead layup on the resulting possession, and Temple got no clean shot off in the remaining time.

"I thought Xavier came in here with a good game plan to take it right at us," said Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza. "I felt like they outworked us in a lot of areas and down the stretch we had way too many turnovers that were costly. I felt like we didn't come out with the same intensity and fire that we did (the other day) against St. Joe's, and that was evident in how we played today...We've been an up-and-down team depending on who we play. I definitely thought we'd come out with that same fire and that didn't happen. Why- I don't know...The game was there to be taken, and I felt like we didn't want it as much as they did."

The Musketeers took a couple of six-point leads early in the game, but each time the, the Owls came right back. Temple cut the margin to a single point twice in the final three minutes of the first half, but a last-second three-pointer by Xavier's Aliyah Zantt sent her team into halftime up by four, 25-21.

Temple scored the first seven points of the second half to erase the four-point halftime deficit and lead by three, but at 17:38 the game saw its third tie on a trey by Xavier.

The Owls trailed 34-33 at 14:29 before using another 7-0 run to take their largest lead of six, 40-34 with 11:03 remaining. They matched that lead twice more, but Xavier continued to rally back and keep Temple from gaining too much momentum. Brown hit the final field goal of the game for the Owls with 3:50 remaining for a five-point, 51-46 lead. Pachko hit the only bucket for either team over the next two minutes.

Thames was sent to the line for a pair of shots with 1:31 on the clock, and hit both to once again give Temple a five-point cushion at 53-48. After Hawkes cut it to three with a jumper on the Musketeers' next possession, a missed trey for Temple hit the top of the backboard to give Xavier the rebound. Hawkes made it happen yet again with a layup for Xavier, and the inbounds pass turnover by Temple led to the game-winner for Pachko.

The Owls have three regular-season games remaining, and the next one takes them to #14/14 Dayton for a 2:00 p.m. game on Sunday, Feb. 24.