Owls fall to North Texas in back-and-forth game

RECAP BY MATEO VERDEN

PHOTO: COURTESY

After being dominated in the third quarter, Temple Women’s Basketball found itself tied with North Texas going into the final period. The Owls went into halftime with a 10-point lead, but it was erased with a 28-point performance from the Mean Green in the third quarter. 

Both teams struggled in the fourth quarter, with neither team shooting over 33%, but it was North Texas’s Megan Nestor who made the difference. Nestor scored all 13 points for the Mean Green in the fourth and secured the steal that handed Temple a 69-66 loss at the Liacouras Center Saturday. 

Temple couldn’t have started the first quarter much worse. The Owls had six turnovers and went three minutes without a bucket. With a few seconds left in the quarter, Temple guard Savannah Curry hit a three-pointer, a shot that ultimately ended up being a precursor to an electric second quarter for the Owls.  

In the second, the Owls did everything right; they went on a huge 23-3 run, where North Texas shot 0-13 at one point. The Owls cleaned up the turnovers and got rebounds; they really polished their game up, going into the half up by 10.  

The Owls held Nestor to just seven points and four rebounds in the first half. Considering she’s one of the best rebounders in the nation, it looked like the Owls had Nestor figured out, but that was wrong.  

It was a game of runs, and this time the run was in favor of the Mean Green as they shot 64% from the field, knocking down six threes in the process. North Texas eliminated the 10-point lead that the Owls had going into the half pretty quickly.  

Temple was able to keep things close, shooting 44% in the third quarter, led by its patented equal opportunity offense, seeing five players get on the board. 

Going into the final frame, it was really any team’s game. At this point, we have seen both teams come back from down big. The fourth quarter started, and it was the Nestor show. Going into the fourth quarter, she had 7 points and 7 rebounds. She finished the quarter with 20 points and 13 rebounds.  

The Owls’ continued turnover struggles showed again in the fourth, turning the ball over 7 times. Yet they still had a few chances late to either tie or win the game, none of their attempts to do so were successful, and they ended the game without scoring in the final two minutes.  

Some key takeaways from the game are, of course, that Megan Nestor is really good at basketball, especially for being as new as she is. Another takeaway is that you can’t win a game where you have 20 turnovers.  

When asked about the turnover troubles, head coach Diane Richardson said, “We gotta definitely take care of the ball, and they’re a very scrappy defensive team, and we knew that coming in, we got to meet the ball and we got to make good passes.”  

Savannah Curry led the Owls with 14 points and six rebounds. Turner finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and four assists. The Owls’ big, Saniyah Craig, totaled 10 points and six rebounds.  

Besides Nestor, North Texas standouts were Jazzy Owens-Barnett with nine points and four assists, and Chania Prince with eight points. 

The Owls’ next game is away at UTSA on February 10th at 7:30 pm at the Convocation Center.