Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Paige Ozaroski
Women's Basketball to Face Oregon in NCAA First Round
3.13.17 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Tonya Cardoza and the seventh-seeded Temple women's basketball team (24-7) will make their ninth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 18 when they take on 10th-seeded Oregon (20-13) in Durham, N.C. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised as part of the wrap-around coverage on ESPN2. Following Temple's game, second-seeded and host Duke will take on 15th-seeded Hampton.
This is the seventh time the Owls have garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Temple last made an appearance in 2012 as a 10 seed, upsetting seventh-seeded Arizona State, 63-45, in Salt Lake City, before falling, 77-64, to second-seeded Notre Dame.
The Owls are 24-7 overall and finished second in The American with a 13-3 mark. Temple advanced to the American Athletic Conference semifinals before falling to USF to end its tournament run.
Four Temple players average double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald's 17.3 points and 7.3 assists per contest. Junior Alliya Butts averages 15.1 points per game with a team-best 66 steals, while classmate Donnaizha Fountain adds 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds with 49 total steals. Junior Tanaya Atkinson rounds out Temple's excellent backcourt, averaging 13.0 points per game, leading the team with 8.5 rebounds per contest.
As a team, the Owls shoot 39.5% from the field and 32.8% from long range. Temple averages 69.9 points per game, with a +3.1 rebound margin and a +3.0 turnover margin. Nationally, the Owls rank in the top 25 in both fewest turnovers and offensive rebounds.
The Ducks finished sixth in the Pac-12 and advanced to the semifinals of their conference tournament where they lost to eventual champion Stanford. Prior to the Pac-12 Tournament, Oregon had lost six of its last 10 regular-season games.
Leading Oregon is freshman forward Ruthy Hebard with 14.5 points per game and a field-goal percentage of 60.8 to rank 11th in NCAA Division I. The Ducks are the second-best three-point shooting team in the nation at 39.6%. Head coach Kelly Graves is making his first NCAA Tournament appearance with Oregon, while the Ducks are making their 14th overall appearance but first since 2005.
The Owls are 1-0 all-time against the Ducks, winning the only contest back in 2005 at Oregon, 51-46 as part of the Women's Sports Foundation Classic which Temple won with that victory.
Watch Video
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised as part of the wrap-around coverage on ESPN2. Following Temple's game, second-seeded and host Duke will take on 15th-seeded Hampton.
This is the seventh time the Owls have garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Temple last made an appearance in 2012 as a 10 seed, upsetting seventh-seeded Arizona State, 63-45, in Salt Lake City, before falling, 77-64, to second-seeded Notre Dame.
The Owls are 24-7 overall and finished second in The American with a 13-3 mark. Temple advanced to the American Athletic Conference semifinals before falling to USF to end its tournament run.
Four Temple players average double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald's 17.3 points and 7.3 assists per contest. Junior Alliya Butts averages 15.1 points per game with a team-best 66 steals, while classmate Donnaizha Fountain adds 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds with 49 total steals. Junior Tanaya Atkinson rounds out Temple's excellent backcourt, averaging 13.0 points per game, leading the team with 8.5 rebounds per contest.
As a team, the Owls shoot 39.5% from the field and 32.8% from long range. Temple averages 69.9 points per game, with a +3.1 rebound margin and a +3.0 turnover margin. Nationally, the Owls rank in the top 25 in both fewest turnovers and offensive rebounds.
The Ducks finished sixth in the Pac-12 and advanced to the semifinals of their conference tournament where they lost to eventual champion Stanford. Prior to the Pac-12 Tournament, Oregon had lost six of its last 10 regular-season games.
Leading Oregon is freshman forward Ruthy Hebard with 14.5 points per game and a field-goal percentage of 60.8 to rank 11th in NCAA Division I. The Ducks are the second-best three-point shooting team in the nation at 39.6%. Head coach Kelly Graves is making his first NCAA Tournament appearance with Oregon, while the Ducks are making their 14th overall appearance but first since 2005.
The Owls are 1-0 all-time against the Ducks, winning the only contest back in 2005 at Oregon, 51-46 as part of the Women's Sports Foundation Classic which Temple won with that victory.
Watch Video
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballEp. 6: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Field Hockey's Peyton Rieger
Tuesday, September 23
Temple Men's Basketball | Mic'd Up at Temple Women's Volleyball Game
Friday, September 19
Ep. 5: Head Men's Golf Coach Brian Quinn
Friday, September 19
Ep. 4: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Men's Soccer Captain Lukas Egarter
Tuesday, September 16
