Women's Basketball Opens Season with Win over Florida

Friday, November 13

Liacouras Center

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

1-0

University of Florida

0-1

Florida

Temple

Fitzgerald netted a career-best 32 points in the victory

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Women's Basketball Opens Season with Win over Florida

11.13.15 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA — The Temple women's basketball team used a 16-0 run in the second quarter and halted a late Florida comeback, as the Owls topped the Gators, 97-91, at the Liacouras Center on Friday night. The game was the season opener for both teams.

Temple's backcourt struck for 72 of the team's 97 points, led by junior Feyonda Fitzgerald who scored a career-high 32 points, while also adding five assists and three steals. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson and Alliya Butts each netted 20 in the victory, with Butts also dishing out four assists.

Elsewhere, senior Erica Covile scored 11 points, going 7-for-7 from the line, while also adding three assists and two steals. Sophomore Donnaizha Fountain led the Owls with nine boards from the guard position, while adding five points.

Though Temple had the first bucket of the game, a three from Butts, Florida opened with a 9-3 run in the first three minutes of play. The Owls answered with an 8-2 surge, forcing three Florida turnovers, tying the game 11-11, on four-straight Fitzgerald free throws. The teams stayed close the rest of the quarter, with Florida taking a slim 22-19 lead heading into the break.

The Gators opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run, to take a their largest lead of the game, 30-21, with 8:27 to play. The teams traded buckets over the next three minutes of play, with a Temple three, edging the score to 38-32, still in Florida's favor, with 5:11 remaining. From that point on, it was all Temple, as the Owls used a momentum-changing, 16-0 run, to take a 10-point lead at 48-38 with under a minute to play. Each team then scored a pair to close out the quarter with Temple leading 50-40.

Temple extended its lead to 17 points, using a 13-6 run to open the third quarter with a 46-63 advantage. Florida responded with a 16-9 surge of its own, as Cassie Peoples struck for eight points, to close the gap to 72-62 with under a minute to play in the frame. Once again the Owls closed the stanza strong, as Temple scored the final five points of the third quarter to make it 77-62.

The Owls extended their lead to 20 at the start of the fourth, as Covile converted a three-point play to make it an 84-64 game with 7:53 to play. From there, Florida mounted a furious comeback, going on a 16-2 run, including seven from Isis Young, to make it just a six-point game (86-80), with 3:31 on the clock. Fitzgerald halted the Gator surge, with a running jumper, her 30th points of the game, while Atkinson converted a steal from Butts, to push the lead back to 10, 90-80, with 2:48 to play.

Florida converted both on a technical foul on Temple's bench, and then added another free throw to make it 90-83 with 1:34 to play. A full-court press from the Gators, saw the team score six unanswered to get the score to just a three-point Temple advantage (92-89), but the Owls closed the game on a 5-2 run, to seal the 97-91 victory.

Temple now hits the road for a three-game stretch, beginning with Big 5 opponent, La Salle, on Wednesday night.

Box Score (PDF) | Press Conference | Video Highlights