Temple Locks Down on Defense and Pulls Away for the Victory

Written By: Liam Andell

Photo Courtesy of: Temple Women’s Basketball Twitter

Wichita State was in the middle of a 7-0 run when Mia Davis got herself to the free-throw line.  Draining both shots, Temple put a halt to the Shockers’ confidence and shaped the rest of the game in their favor.

Temple used that boost of energy at the end of the quarter and carried it into the 4th quarter to close out Wichita State 65-55.

This performance by the Owls gets them back in the win column at 5-2 in conference play, whereas Wichita continues their downward trend as they sit at 0-4 in conference play and winless since Dec. 4th. 

You couldn’t have drawn up a better fourth quarter as Temple was electric on both sides of the ball.  While the offense had been productive throughout the entire game, it was the defense that really made the difference down the stretch.

The six points allowed by Temple in the entire quarter is tied for their best defensive quarter all season.  The Owls seem to get very aggressive in defense and forcing contested shots.

The pressure forced by Temple held Wichita State in check as they shot only 3 of 13 from the field.  Temple closed out this game on a 10-0 run and held the Shockers without a field goal in the final 4:08 of regulation.

One huge factor to Temple’s success on defense is their discipline while defending.  The Owls didn’t allow a single trip to the free-throw line all quarter, and only 6 throughout the game which happens to be a season-low.

Offensively, the Owls found success. Jasha Clinton had another superb performance and it seems like this is becoming a recurring theme for Clinton as she led the team with 21 points.

“Keep shooting even if I miss and keep attacking the basket, that helps a lot,” Clinton said as she gives credit to her coaches and teammates for her recent success as they continue encouraging her to stay aggressive. 

When asked about the 4th quarter, Clinton mentioned that Mia Davis talked to her team about bringing the energy, and that message certainly resonated with them as they outscored the Shockers 20-6.  

In terms of Mia Davis’ performance, she did her thing once again, racking up 16 points and 9 boards.  

Luckily for this Owls team, Davis’s impact is much greater than the numbers on the stat sheet. She is a team leader and is always ready to step up in each game during her career at Temple thus far.  Today marks her 100th game played on North Broad.

Davis has always been a threat on offense and consistently draws a double team, this allows for open shots to the rest of her teammates.

Asonah Alexander capitalized on the open looks today as she put up a season-high 12 points.  While Alexander has been more of a distributor this season, Coach Cardoza wants to see her shoot the ball more and was happy to see her fire up 11 attempts.

Emani Mayo is another player that Cardoza keys in on to keep shooting the ball.  

“I don’t think Emani is shy about shooting, it’s just being confident and not changing the way that you do it,” said Cardoza in regards to Mayo’s release on her shots.

“Once she sees a couple go in, she’s more confident, but we have to make open shots.”

Although Mayo was cold from beyond the arc shooting 1/7, the one she made was essential to the victory as it started the eventual 10-0 run to close out the game.

Temple better pack accordingly because they begin a long five-game road trip starting with #14 USF (10-1, 7-0) on Jan. 27 at 4 PM.