PHILADELPHIA – With over 56 percent shooting in the second half, Temple women’s basketball was able to put away Seton Hall (2-1) and come away with a 54-38 win over its future BIG EAST rival. Victoria Macaulay notched her second double-double for the Owls (2-1) in three games with a game-high 16 points to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.
Macaulay was the only double-figure scorer for Temple, but seven other Owls also got on the board including five with six points or more. Rateska Brown came off the bench for eight points and three steals, while May Dayan hit 2-of-3 from behind the arc and finished with seven points.
Tyonna Williams dished a career-high eight assists to lead all players, while also scoring six points. Natasha Thames pulled down nine rebounds and hit 3-of-4 from the field for six points.
Temple’s defense was impressive throughout the game as the Owls held Seton Hall to 23.3 percent shooting from the field, and out-rebounded the Pirates 46-36.
While the Owls led for nearly the entire first half, the margin was never more than two possessions. After Temple led 10-4 at 12:56, the Pirates narrowed the gap to two in the same minute and the Owls’ lead was never more than four until the final two minutes of the half.
Brown sank Temple’s second trey of the contest with 1:42 remaining for a five-point, 21-16 lead, but Seton Hall scored the final two points of the half at the line.
Macaulay and Sally Kabengano led all scorers at the break with six points as Temple took a 21-18 advantage into the locker room.
The first half proved to be a sloppy one for both teams, with Seton Hall shooting 19 percent from the field and the Owls only slightly better at 26 percent. Temple took the unfortunate advantage in turnovers with 14 to the Pirates’ nine.
“At halftime we talked about focusing in and making sure if we’re not scoring, that they don’t score. If we’re able to make some good stops and get in the passing lanes, then we can get out in transition and score easy buckets. I think we fed off of that, because early on we were able to get some stops and go down and get easy buckets.”
The Owls gave up the first bucket after the break, but then used a 6-0 run for a 27-20 lead, setting the pace for what would be a much stronger half of play. Dayan and Williams both hit three-pointers in the first six minutes, and Williams’ trey started an 8-0 run that put Temple ahead by 14, 41-27 with 11:39 remaining.
Thames was on the receiving end of two perfect passes from teammates Dayan and Williams during the run, and made good on both with back-to-back layups.
The Pirates stayed within striking distance for a bit, coming within eight points with 6:11 remaining, but the Owls started an 8-0 run on a jumper by Meghan Roxas and led by double digits the rest of the way.
“We’re young and we have a lot of guys out there that don’t know where they are most of the time and there’s still a little nervousness,” said Cardoza. “That’s why we weren’t able to put them away. But as long as we’re not letting them score, we’re giving ourselves a chance, and that’s all we want is to give ourselves a chance by making sure we go down and play good defense. We held a team to 38 points. When you can do something like that, that’s remarkable.”
The Owls have two more games left in a three-game homestand, and will face Northeastern on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in the Liacouras Center. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Temple men’s team, which will face Rice in its home opener at 8:00 p.m. that night.
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