Women’s Basketball Holds off Western Michigan Rally in 64-52 Road Win
Owls get 19 points apiece from Kristen McCarthy and Shey Peddy
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan rallied from 18 points down to just five, but the Temple women’s basketball team held tough and stayed on top for a 64-52 road win against the Broncos (3-10). The Owls (6-7) got 19 points apiece from Kristen McCarthy and Shey Peddy, as well as a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds from Victoria Macaulay.
Maria Iaquaniello led Western Michigan with 18 points and seven boards. Although Temple held a strong advantage on the glass for much of the game, turnovers really told the story as the Owls finished with a 32-13 edge in points off turnovers. WMU committed 27 of them while Temple fared slightly better with 22.
The Broncos hit a single three-pointer and committed five turnovers as Temple raced out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Owls played aggressively at both ends of the court, helping themselves by getting calls under the basket and going 6-of-6 at the line in the early going.
Some sloppy play by Temple which included eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes helped keep Western Michigan in the game, as the Broncos improved their shooting to over 50 percent for much of the first half.
WMU trailed by just five on a number of occasions, the last at 20-15 and 8:53 remaining in the half before Temple used a 10-1 run to get its largest lead of 14 at 30-16 with 5:28 on the clock. The Broncos’ fourth trey of the half got them as close as eight in the final minutes, but the Owls took a 10-point lead into the break, 35-25.
Temple dominated on the glass in the first half with a 20-7 advantage including a 9-0 edge in offensive boards which led to five second-chance points.
The Owls scored the first seven points of the second half to lead by as many as 17, but the Broncos answered with a 5-0 run. The game of runs continued as Temple pulled away with an 8-2 run in which both Peddy and McCarthy hit three-pointers and gave the Owls a 50-32 lead.
Neither team scored for close to a four-minute stretch midway through the half, but it was WMU that broke the drought in a big way with a 10-1 run and cut the margin back to single digits, 51-42 with under eight minutes remaining.
After a jumper by Peddy briefly put Temple’s lead back to double digits, the Broncos’ momentum continued as they took advantage of fouls by Temple. WMU came within five points with five minutes left thanks to numerous chances at the free throw line.
Peddy and McCarthy stopped the bleeding by combining for 4-of-4 at the line, and Rateska Brown nailed a three-pointer to put the Owls back up by 13 with three minutes left. The Broncos put only one point on the board in the remaining time other than a buzzer-beating jumper as time expired.
Temple will begin its Atlantic 10 schedule on Saturday, Jan. 7 in a 7:00 p.m. game at Richmond.
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