Temple Loses to Tulsa After Big First Half for Golden Hurricane
Written by: Zack Silverstein
Photo by: Andrew Mayo
After being outscored by 20 points in the first quarter, Temple women’s basketball (7-10, 2-3 American Athletic Conference) was unable to claw back, falling 69-57 to Tulsa (15-3, 5-0 AAC) at the Liacouras Center.
“I am really proud of the way this team stayed in the game and didn’t put their heads down and fought back,” Temple head coach Diane Richardson said. “For a first-year coach with a team that has so many different parts, that makes me feel good that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Tulsa had complete control of the first quarter from start to finish. They held Temple scoreless for the final 6:10, while going on their own 22-2 scoring run for the final 7:28.
The Golden Hurricane was fast and physical, and the Owls couldn’t compete with the tempo.
Tulsa senior guard Maya Mayberry, who finished with nine points total, scored six points in the first quarter to lead the charge. Of the eight Tulsa players who saw action in the quarter, seven of them were able to put points on the board.
Temple was held scoreless for the first 4:06 of the second quarter, bringing their scoring drought to a total of 10:16.
Junior guard Tarriyonna Gary led Temple with 19 points. Senior guard Aleah Nelson was the only other Owl with double-digit points, scoring 12.
The third quarter was much better for Temple, outscoring Tulsa 18-12. Sophomore guard Tiarra East led the Owls with 10 points, shooting 3-5 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Temple outscored Tulsa 22-16 in the fourth quarter behind the hot shooting of Gary. She scored 12 points in the first 4:46 of the quarter after shooting 4-4 from three-point range. Gary finished the quarter with 14 points, with the second-leading Owls scorer being sophomore guard Aniya Gourdine with four points.
“I just knew we had to come back some type of way,” Gary said, “coaches kept telling me, ‘Just shoot the ball,’ so I just started shooting.”
Temple will head to Memphis on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. to take on the Tigers. The game can be streamed live on ESPN+.
