PHILADELPHIA – Kristen McCarthy and Shey Peddy combined for 22 of the Owls first 24 points and went on to lead the Temple women’s basketball team to a 65-55 win against Charlotte (13-8, 5-2) in Atlantic 10 action on Sunday afternoon. The Owls have won five straight and now improve to 12-8 overall and 5-1 in the A-10.
McCarthy finished with her fourth double-double of the season, leading Temple with a game-high 23 points and game-high 10 rebounds along with a game-high four steals.
Peddy scored 22 points including four three-pointers while also grabbing seven boards and dishing six assists. BJ Williams tied Peddy for game-high assist honors with six and also added seven rebounds.
Jai Forney led Charlotte with 16 points and nine rebounds. Gabby Tyler came off the bench to score 10 points for the 49ers.
Temple forced Charlotte into 20 turnovers while committing just 10, leading to a 20-6 edge in points off turnovers in the game.
McCarthy and Peddy dominated on offense and both reached double figures in scoring well before the midway point of the first half. Peddy hit her first five shots from the field including two from behind the arc while McCarthy hit six of her first nine including one trey. The two combined to go 4-of-4 at the line in that time.
The two guards combined for all but two of Temple’s points as the Owls raced out to a 24-7 lead. Charlotte scored the next three buckets of the game to narrow the 17-point margin to 11, but Peddy and McCarthy each added two more buckets in the next five minutes as the Owls continued to hold a double-digit lead until less than four minutes remained in the first half.
Ny Hammonds converted an old-fashioned three-point play for the 49ers at 3:47 to put her team within seven, 33-26. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way and the Owls still led by seven at halftime, 41-34.
Peddy and McCarthy finished the first half with 38 of Temple’s 41 points, scoring 19 apiece. Peddy hit 7-of-8 from the field including 3-of-4 three-pointers, while McCarthy led all players with seven rebounds.
Charlotte hit a three-pointer right out of the gate in the second half to come within four points, but the Owls answered with an 11-0 run to lead by 15, 52-37.
The 49ers made another run, out-scoring Temple 8-2 over the next few minutes to narrow the gap to nine points, 54-45 at 10:25. Victoria Macaulay hit back-to-back layups to give the Owls a 13-point cushion with nine minutes remaining, but it was over three minutes before either team scored again.
McCarthy increased Temple’s lead to 15 before the 49ers answered with an 8-0 to trail by just seven, 60-53 with three and a half minutes left. It was as close as Charlotte would get as the Owls scored the next five points and the 49ers managed just two free throws in the remaining time.
Temple will play its next game on the road but not far from home as the Owls face Saint Joseph’s at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 in Hagen Arena. The game is an A-10 contest only and will not count toward the Big 5 standings.
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