Women's Basketball Tops Ohio, Advances to WNIT Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 24

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

23-11

Ohio University

26-7

Ohio

Temple

Photo by: Julia Martin

Women's Basketball Tops Ohio, Advances to WNIT Quarterfinals

3.24.16 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple women's basketball team will head to the WNIT Quarterfinals for the second-straight year, as the Owls advanced with a 75-61 third round win over Ohio on Thursday night at McGonigle Hall. The victory lifts Temple to 23-11 overall, while Ohio ends its season at 26-7.

Temple will now head to Michigan to face the Wolverines on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the Crisler Center.

Ohio entered the game averaging 9.8 threes a contest, also boasting the nation's leading three point shooter in Kiyanna Black. Temple's tight defense shut down the perimeter, however, as Black was held without a three, and the Bobcats were just 3-for-21 from long range for the game. Temple's offense backed up the strong defense, as four players finished in double-figures in scoring, led by junior Feyonda Fitzgerald's 22 points.

Fitzgerald's 22 points moved her two spots higher on the Owls' all-time career scoring list, as she's now ninth in program history with 1,263 career points. She passed Claudrena Harold '97 (1,251) and Stacey Smalls '03 (1,258) in the process, and rounded out her night by adding a game-high six assists. Sophomore Alliya Butts finished with 18 points, while classmate Donnaizha Fountain notched her fourth-career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, also grabbing a career-high five steals. Sophomore Tanaya Atkinson finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while senior Erica Covile had nine points and a game-best 14 rebounds.

Temple held a 44-32 advantage on the glass, as the three-headed rebounding monster of Covile, Fountain, and Atkinson combined for 31 of Temple's 44 boards. Elsewhere, the Owls finished with a slight shooting edge (42.9% to 41.1%) and recorded 11 total steals, forcing 15 Ohio turnovers.

Temple shot 55.3% in the first quarter en route to a 27-11 advantage. The Owls trailed just once, a 3-2 deficit after a three from Quiera Lampkins with 9:03 on the clock. Butts racked up 12 first quarter points, while Temple's stingy defense tallied seven steals in the frame.

The Owls held on to their 16-point edge until a 9-0 Ohio run closed the gap to 32-25 on a Hannah Boesinger three with 4:14 on the clock. A Fitzgerald lay-up broke the Temple scoring drought, but Ohio countered with four-straight to make it 34-29. From there, Temple ended the half on a 5-0 run to bring the lead back to double-figures, 39-29.

Butts led all players with 13 points at the break, while Fitzgerald added nine points and three assists. Covile's first-half numbers included six points and nine boards, while Fountain grabbed four steals in the first 20 minutes. Ohio was paced by 10 points each from Quiera Lampkins and Yamonie Jenkins.

Temple surged forward with a 12-6 run to start the third quarter, increasing the lead to 51-36. After a 6-0 run from Ohio, Temple answered with another scoring streak, this time, 9-2 to make it a 60-44 game with 1:15 to play in the third. The frame saw just one more bucket, an Ohio lay-up, making it 60-45 after three.

Ohio whittled the Temple advantage down to 10 points, at 68-58, but their 13-8 run took over six minutes off the clock. Fitzgerald and the Owls answered with a 7-1 run, grabbing a pair of steals over the next three minutes of play, making it 75-59, and putting the game out of reach. Ohio added a lay-up in the waning seconds to account for the 75-61 final.

The Bobcats were led by 20 points and four assists from Lampkins, while Jenkins finished with 12 points, five assists, and two steals.

Box Score (PDF) | Video Highlights | Post-Game Press Conference