Women’s Basketball Defeats First Top 25 Team In Thrilling Fashion

PHILADELPHIA — Amidst their four game win streak, Temple’s Women’s Basketball Team achieved what was their most impressive win to date, their first win over a top 25 team in USF, 68-66. The game went back and forth among both teams for the most part, but Temple’s outback at the end with a second left on the clock was what made the upset real. Tanya Atkinson lead Temple in points with 17 points, while Erica Covile added a point-rebound double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Defense was the key factor in this game, as neither team shot over 40% for the game. Each team held on with one another for a majority of it, which lead to the decisive game-winning lay-up at the end of the game for Covile. After this statement win, Temple has to go take on Cincinnati and retain try to maintain their momentum for the last portion of the season as they go on to try and claim a spot in the tournament.

For the first two and a half minutes of the first quarter, USF held a 9-2 lead, which Temple started to break into and evened things out after about five and a half minutes in the quarter at 14 points apiece. Temple took a three point lead after that, but USF scored nine points straight after that giving them a 23-17 lead until Feyonda Fitzgerald hit a buzzer beating three pointer to trim the lead going into the second quarter, 23-20.

USF went on a 7-2 run for the first five and a half minutes of the quarter to give themselves another bigger lead, until Temple went and trimmed it down again, and tied the game at 30 even with two minutes left into the quarter, and then made a free throw, which gave Temple a 31-30 lead at the end of the quarter.

At halftime, Courtney Williams lead all scorers with 12 points, while Tanaya Atkinson had scored nine points, and Erica Covile had eight points and eight rebounds. The stats were pretty equal on both sides, aside from Temple having created a considerable amount of extra opportunities for themselves with five steals, while USF didn’t have any at that point yet.

The first five and a half minutes of the quarter included back and forth action by both teams, until USF started to take advantage, just as they had before. USF went on a 9-2 run for the end of the quarter, which gave them another eight point lead at the end of the quarter at 52-44.

Just like every other big lead USF made, though, Temple found a way to get themselves back into the game by going on an 11-2 run, capped off by two big three pointers made by Butts, her only two three points of the game. The game was very tight and close for the remainder, which lead to the big miss and put-back layup at the end by Erica Covile which sealed the game. The game was close for the entire duration, but Temple was able to squeeze it out at the very end due to their determination.