Shannon McCallum and Ashley Spriggs both scored in double-figures for Charlotte but the 49ers (15-10; 8-3) lost on the road to the Temple Owls (19-6; 8-2) Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, 79-68.
"Temple began the game with a great deal more energy than our team," Charlotte coach Karen Aston said of the loss. "Temple's guards dominated the game."
Spriggs notched her 14th double-figure scoring game of the season with 13 points while McCallum added 26 more for her second consecutive game of more than 20 points. Freshman Jennifer Hailey turned in another solid effort with eight points and 11 rebounds to her credit. The 11-rebound game marked the second time this season that she has grabbed more than 10. Aysha Jones added eight more points for Charlotte.
On Saturday though, Temple’s Kristen McCarthy ruled the court. In 40 minutes of playing time, the forward scored a game-high 42 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
With Temple leading 13-9 at 13:42 of the first half, Charlotte got a free throw from Jones and a layup from Hailey to cut the Temple lead to 13-12 with 12:36 remaining. McCallum scored at the 7:11 mark to cut Temple’s lead to 20-18, but the Owls went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to stretch their lead to 31-20 with 2:16 remaining in the first half.
The Niners cut Temple’s lead down to single-digits twice over the final minute of the half but Temple’s McCarthy knocked down a long-range three at the buzzer to give the Owls a 35-24 lead going into the break.
Temple came out firing in the second half and scored six of the first eight points, pushing their lead to 41-26 at the 17:58 mark. Temple kept the Niners at bay for a few minutes, but after Jessica Johnson converted an and-one opportunity, the Niners had cut Temple’s lead to 48-40 with 12:29 left.
Temple came right back at the Niners and pushed their lead to 12 points over the next 30 seconds at 52-40. Charlotte came back with a counter in the form of a McCallum three-pointer and a Johnson jump shot to cut the lead to 52-45 with 10:56 left.
Over the next four minutes, the Owls scored six of the next seven points to push their lead back to 12, 58-46 at the 7:50 mark but once again, the Niners answered with free throws from McCallum and Jones and a layup by Kendria Holmes to cut the lead to 60-54 with 6:29 remaining in the game.
Temple’s McCarthy stopped the Niner run with a three-pointer from the corner but Charlotte’s Jones came right back down the floor and knocked down a tre’ of her own, making the score 63-57. However, that’s as close as the Niners would get. Temple went on a 8-0 run over the next three minutes to push their lead to 14 points, 71-57 with just over two minutes left.
The Niners continue their three-game road trip Thursday night when they take on the Billikens in Saint Louis.
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