After closing out the Hall of Fame Challenge on a high note, the Lady Owls (3-3) returned home to North Broad Street to do battle against the University of Delaware Blue Hens (2-3). Both teams came into the matchup having beaten their previous opponent on the road by more than ten points.
Sophomore Erika Brown opened up the scoring for Delaware with a two-point jump shot. Temple registered its first points of the contest at the hands of Tyonna Williams, who drained one from behind the arc giving the Owls the 3-2 lead. However, the defenses for both teams came up big, and after 9 minutes of play, they held each other to just 19 total points, with Temple in the lead 12-7. Delaware’s physical presence made for some early foul trouble, sending sophomore guard Feyonda Fitzgerald to the foul line twice in a span of about 30 seconds. Fitzgerald capped off the half leading all players with 10 points, while shooting only 30% from the field. Regardless of the foul trouble, the Blue Hens went on an 8-0 run, coming within a point of the Owls before Temple went on a 7-0 themselves. The Owls’ efforts put them up 28-25 at the half. Following a career performance against the University of Vermont on Saturday, junior Courtni Green ended the half with two trips to the charity stripe. She and teammate Erika Brown both led the Hens with 7 points at the end of the frame.
After trailing by three at the halfway point, a 13-2 run put Delaware ahead of Temple 38-30 just two and a half minutes into the second. After efforts by freshmen Alliya Butts and Tanaya Atkinson, Temple found themselves within three. However, another big run by the Blue Hens put them up by 11 a little over three minutes later. Delaware would retain its double-digit lead for over six minutes, before a five point Temple response would close the gap at eight with 4:45 remaining. But, the Blue Hens eventually broke away with a fastbreak layup by Erika Brown, increasing their lead to 10. The Owls wouldn’t get much closer, as Delaware kept its two-digit lead for the rest of the game.
The Hens won the game by a score of 69-58, recording their program’s 700th all-time victory. As for the Owls, Feyonda Fitzgerald, who led all players with points in the first half, could muster up only 5 more in the last 20 minutes of play. Freshmen Alliya Butts and Tanaya Atkinson were bright spots on defense for Temple, with Butts recording five steals and Atkinson registering 15 rebounds, season highs for both players. To continue the valiant defensive effort for the Owls, sophomore Safiya Martin had a career-best six blocks. Rounding out the scoring for Temple, junior Erica Covile scored nine points with ten rebounds, and senior Tyonna Williams registered eight points and three assists.
Both teams will remain idle until Sunday afternoon. Delaware’s next game will be a home matchup against Bucknell, while the Owls are set to host Fordham at McGonigle Hall for a 2:00pm matinée.
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