University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Temple
Women's Basketball Falls To Temple, 66-54
February 10, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2010
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Despite shooting over 60% from three-point range, the UMass women's basketball team was unable to solve Temple, falling 66-54 on a snowy Wednesday evening in Philadelphia. The setback leaves the Minutewomen at 9-15 overall and 3-6 in the Atlantic 10, while the Owls move to 18-6 on the year and 7-2 in the conference.
Senior Diatiema Hill paced the UMass offense with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor to go along with five assists and three steals. Freshman Jasmine Watson followed, reaching double figures for a third consecutive game, with 10 points and had a squad-best five rebounds and four steals. Junior Stephanie Lawrence added nine points and Megan Zullo registered eight points.
Zullo hit the opening shot of the game, a three at 19:12 for the Minutewomen's lone lead of the night. Temple responded by scoring the next eight straight points and later strung together a 7-0 run to increase its advantage to 11 at 25-14, its largest lead of the opening period. Before the Owls could pull away any further, UMass closed the half with an 8-2 stretch over the final 3:35 to come within five at the intermission, 27-22.
Another trey from Zullo opened the second, cutting the deficit to two, but Temple quickly increased its cushion to 12 with a 15-5 run. A layup by Natasha Thames at 8:25 gave the Owls their biggest advantage of the evening, 58-37 and the squad led by 12 or more the rest of the way.
The Minutewomen finished the contest shooting 19-for-51 (37.3%) from the field, 7-for-11 (63.6%) from three and 9-for-10 (90.%) at the free throw line. Temple shot 43.6% (24-55) overall, 45.0% (9-for-20) from beyond the arc and 50.0% (9-for-18) at the charity stripe. On the boards, the Owls held a commanding margin, out-rebounding UMass, 42-26.
For Temple, Shaqwedia Wallace led the way with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while LaKeisha Eaddy totaled 14 points and four assists. Kristen McCarthy was the third Owl in double figures with 13 points. She also added a game-high nine rebounds and five assists. Natasha Thames grabbed eight boards and Kristie Watkins-Day handed out six assists.
The Minutewomen will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 13, when the squad will play host to Dayton at 2 p.m. in the Mullins Center on Pink Zone Day. The contest will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports.
