Owls force 33 turnovers in home opener to get their first win of the season

The Owls beat the Midshipmen 97-77, thanks to 33 turnovers and ‘spicee’ full-court defense. Guard Shayla Smith led the way for the Owls with her 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and five steals in her first game back in her hometown. 

“It definitely means a lot [playing back at home],” Smith said. “And the same thing, like Kaylah [Turner] said, my teammates and my coaches instill a lot of confidence in me, so It’s definitely a good feeling to be back and get that support.”

The first quarter was back and forth with both teams trading scoring spurts, but the Owls’ run snowballed into a 13-1 run. The Owls ran a full-court trap that worked to perfection, generating 10 steals in the first frame. Thanks to the turnovers and shooting 47% from the field, the Owls would end the first up 10 points with the score being 29-19. 

In the second, it was more of the same; the Owls forced nine turnovers and shot even better at 57% from the field. There was a sequence where the Midshipmen got the ball two times and traveled both times back to back; indicative of how the night went for them.  

Going into halftime, the score was 53-34 Temple. Forward Ariana Meriedy and guard Taliyah Logwood came off the bench firing, scoring 11 and seven points, respectively. This led to 22 bench points and 28 points off turnovers for the Owls. 

“I think my energy helps my team a lot because I feel like when I’m going, everyone else is going. So it just picks up the energy, makes everybody want to get on the same page that I’m on,” said Logwood, speaking on her presence and energy off the bench.

The third quarter saw nine more turnovers and a 15-2 Owls run.

“It’s S-P-I-C-E-E. The E’s at the end is energy and effort,” said guard Kaylah Turner on Richardson’s defensive philosophy. “It basically just means have a lot of energy on defense, effort on defense. At the end of the day, you might not get every single steal, but pressure on other teams is what our main priority is.” 

The fourth was all but a formality, as going into the quarter it was 76-54 in favor of the Owls. The Owls would get the final turnover total to 33 and would end up shooting 50% from the field as they went on to win 97-77. 

The Owls play their next game away at John Glaser Arena, home of the LaSalle Explorers, on Wednesday, November 11th at 6:30 p.m. to kick off Big 5 pod play.