Temple Defeats Memphis to Earn First Win in Conference Play
Written by: Adrian Maghacot
Photo by: Temple Athletics
Temple (6-7, 1-0 AAC) defeated Memphis (8-6, 0-1 AAC) 80-69 in its first conference game on Friday at the Liacouras Center.
While the game started very slow for the Owls, they surged in the second quarter behind a 21-3 run as a result of senior guard Aleah Nelson’s 11-point quarter.
“I had to tell myself to keep shooting the ball,” Nelson said. “I mean I didn’t even realize I was 0-3, so I kept saying to myself to shoot the ball .”
This was also the first game sophomore guard Aniya Gourdine played this season. The former All-AAC Freshman team player finished with eight points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal.
“Everybody was coming out of COVID, so we had to move a lot of people around,” Temple head coach Diane Richardson said. “She’s been off the court for a while and she was dying after two minutes. They carried the weight for us”
The momentum in the first half shifted in both directions with Memphis taking advantage of the first quarter by out rebounding the Owls 15-7 and shot an efficient 41.2%.
However, Memphis was much more careless in the second quarter by turning the ball over four times and fouling seven times. Temple took its first lead of the game with 4:10 left in the half. Memphis also scored only three field goals, which led to the Owls outscoring Memphis 30-11 in the quarter.
Very similar to the first half, the momentum shifted between both teams in different quarters.
Temple came out of that run continuing their dominance out scoring Memphis 23-16, including limiting the team to only six field goals. In the fourth quarter, almost every player on the Memphis roster besides three players scored at least a point and sophomore forward Tiarra East led the Owls during the quarter with six points.
Memphis forward Shelbee Brown and Temple’s Gourdine both received technical fouls with 42 seconds left in the game. Both players were arguing during a Memphis free throw and were subbed out after the attempts.
Nelson had a career game, leading the Owls with 20 points, six assists, and a season-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Jasha Clinton also had a productive day after tying her season-high of 17 points. Junior guard Tarriyona Gary had a season-high of her own with five assists.
“I think we pulled it out and we did a great job pulling this one out in our first conference game,” Richardson said. “We’re in the second season and they really stepped up.”
Memphis senior guard Madison Griggs led the Tigers in points with a season-high of 20. The team had two freshman players who had dominant games rebounding the ball. Guard Tanyuel Welch had a season-high in both rebounds and assists with 11 and five, respectively, while center Destiny Thomas had a season-high of eight rebounds.
Memphis will return to Tennessee to face East Carolina (10-3, 0-0 AAC) at Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Tuesday, January 3, at 7:00 PM.
The Owls will start the new year off traveling to Tampa to face off against South Florida (11-4, 0-0 AAC) at the Yuengling Center on Tuesday, January 3, at 5:00 PM.
