Temple Rolls By Tulsa For Their Second Straight Victory
Written By: Liam Andell
Photo Courtesy of: OwlSports.com
Temple squared off against Tulsa on Wednesday. Fortunately for Temple, it was not much of a contest as they headed down to Oklahoma and handled business winning 68-46.
The Owls entered this game at 8-5 in conference play with seven of their wins coming against opponents with a losing record. Their ability to beat up on struggling teams has been a positive this season and it was in full effect against Tulsa
While the field goal percentage for Temple has not been all too flashy at 39% on the season, the performance against Tulsa showed a completely different story.
Temple shot 50.9% from the field, which was their second-best FG% of the season as the Owls actually shot 54.9% from the field in a Dec. 23 matchup against this same Tulsa team.
To nobody’s surprise, Temple had multiple starters score in double figures. Senior forward Mia Davis had herself a double-double as she laid in 17 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Jasha Clinton put up a modest 12 points.
Alexa Williamson shined bright in this one as she put up a team-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. This was her first double-double on the season.
While the scoring for Temple was at an efficient rate, the defense also showed up big time.
The 46 points allowed were the Owl’s best performance of the season. They were all over the Golden Hurricanes defensively and didn’t allow for many open shots. The 28% field goal shooting from Tulsa was the worst of any opponent that Temple has played all season.
Alexa Williamson who normally plays inside the paint was able to raise havoc in this game by grabbing two steals and blocks
The low score wasn’t all because of the Temple defense, Tulsa could not make anything work. The shots they put up inside of the paint were way off the mark.
Tulsa could not get a single starter in double figures on the day. Maddie Bittle was the only person to reach that mark with 10 points. Maya Mayberry is normally on point for the Golden Hurricanes, averaging 13 points per game, but she struggled mightily shooting 3 of 14 for only 8 points.
Temple found themselves a beautiful matchup to combat their rebounding struggles as Tulsa came in with the worst rebounding margin in the AAC and Temple capitalized on that by grabbing 11 more rebounds. It will be interesting to see if Temple carries their intensity around the rim further on in the season.
This was an all-around good performance by the Owls but the ultimate test is upcoming for Temple as #12 USF comes to town. This game is essential because it can help boost Temple in the standings and give them a boost of momentum as the AAC regular season winds down.
The game is slated to tip-off on Feb. 24 at 3:30 PM. The game can be watched on ESPN+
