Temple Women’s Basketball Falls 58-52 at Northern Illinois
Shooting woes prevent Owls from taking a lead in the second half
DEKALB, Ill. – After a promising start, the Temple women’s basketball team went cold from the field and never completely recovered in a 58-52 road loss at Northern Illinois (2-1). The Owls (2-2) were swept on their weekend road trip and still have three games remaining in a six-game road swing.
Kristen McCarthy recorded Temple’s first double-double of the season with 11 points and a game and career-high 12 rebounds. Shey Peddy led Temple with 13 points, all scored in the second half, and BJ Williams scored 11 points while dishing a game-high six assists.
Amanda Corral led Northern Illinois with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“(Northern Illinois) just wanted the game more than we did,” said Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza. “They were hungry and they showed it. We were out-hustled and when we weren’t making shots, we also weren’t doing the little things you need to do to win a game on the road. We just didn’t show up today.”
McCarthy scored seven points in an early 9-2 run that gave the Owls an 11-5 lead. Temple soon used another run of 7-0 to take an 18-9 lead at the midway point of the first half, but the nine-point lead would be the Owls’ largest of the game.
The Owls had started the game shooting 7-of-12 but finished the half making just 1-of-14 from the field. The Huskies still trailed by four, 22-18 in the final minute, but Jenna Thorp banked a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Owls into the locker room with just a one-point, 22-21 advantage.
McCarthy’s seven points led all players at the half, as did her six rebounds. Williams had six points at halftime including Temple’s only three-pointer.
Temple’s struggles only continued in the second half as Peddy made the Owls’ only field goal in their first nine attempts and the Huskies eventually took an eight-point, 34-26 lead at 14:35.
The Owls had committed eight team fouls less than six minutes into the second half, sending NIU to the line for a total of nine attempts, of which the Huskies made seven.
Williams hit a 10-foot jumper at 13:56 for Temple’s second bucket of the half, starting a 9-1 run that tied the score at 35-35 with 11 minutes remaining. The Owls tied the score two more times but were never able to take the lead.
After NIU took a 52-47 lead with under a minute remaining, Peddy gave Temple hope by hitting a three-pointer with 41 seconds on the clock, but the Huskies’ Kim Davis answered with a layup. McCarthy came back down and hit a jumper to once again put the Owls within two, but NIU was a perfect 4-of-4 at the line in the final 15 seconds of the game as the Owls were scoreless.
Next on the slate for the Owls is the Junkanoo Jam Tournament in Freeport, Bahamas, over Thanksgiving. First up for Temple is a 3:15 p.m. game against defending NCAA champion #6/6 Texas A&M on Friday, Nov. 25.
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