Fourth Quarter Rally Falls Short for Women's Basketball

Wednesday, December 7

Hampton, Va.

5:30 p.m.

Temple University

4-3

Hampton

4-5

Temple

Hampton

Fourth Quarter Rally Falls Short for Women's Basketball

12.7.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HAMPTON, Va. -- A furious fourth-quarter comeback from Temple fell just short, as the Owls' women's basketball team dropped a 71-65 game on the road at Hampton on Wednesday night. The loss dips Temple to 4-3 on the season, while Hampton improves to 4-5.

Temple rallied from a 19-point deficit to make it just a four-point game with under 30 seconds to play. Time wasn't on Temple's side, however, as the clock waned and the Owls were forced to foul. With a fifth personal assessed to freshman Takora McIntyre, Temple was called for a technical foul after not getting the sub into the game in time. Hampton then made three-of-four free throws to make it a three possession game, with a lay-up from senior Feyonda Fitzgerald in the closing seconds setting the final to 71-65.

Fitzgerald had a valiant effort back in her home state of Virginia, scoring a season-high 29 points, adding three assists and five steals. Junior Alliya Butts ended her night with 17 points, six assists, and three steals, while classmate Khadijah Berger, playing in her hometown, had nine points and six rebounds. Senior Ruth Sherrill, also from Virginia, tallied season-bests with six points and 10 rebounds, while junior Donnaizha Fountain pulled down nine rebounds in the game.

Hampton shot 44.2% (23-52), while Temple recorded its second-straight game shooting just 31% (23-74) from the field. The Owls scored a program-record 35 fourth-quarter points, but combined for just 30 points between the first three frames.

Temple led 5-2 early with a three-point play from Fitzgerald starting the Temple scoring. Hampton quickly turned things around, going on a 14-2 run to close the first quarter.

Hampton's offense rolled into the second, scoring the first seven points of the frame, to take a 23-7 lead with 5:54 on the clock. A Fitzgerald three briefly interrupted the Pirates' run, but not for long, as eight-unanswered stretched the Hampton lead to 21 points at 31-10. Temple was able to get some back in the final two minutes of the half, using an 8-2 surge to set the score to 33-18 at the break.

Fitzgerald led the Owls with 11 at halftime, while Butts contributed four assists, and Fountain, five boards. Temple was just 6-34 (17.6%) from the field in the first 20 minutes, while Hampton went 13-32 (40.6%). The teams were even on the glass, but Hampton forced 10 Temple turnovers in the half.

Temple cut the lead down to 10 points with a 7-2 run to open the third quarter. Hampton then out-scored the Owls 14-5 over the final six minutes of the frame, making it a 19-point advantage (49-30) after three.

Temple was in the midst of an 18-5 run in the fourth quarter, before being whistled for the technical foul. The Owls used separate runs of 7-2 and 9-4 to get the lead to under single digits, before the final surge that cut it to four.

The Owls are back in action on Saturday, playing at Villanova at 1:00 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)