University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Temple
Second-Half Rally Leads Temple Past Richmond
01/23/2008 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond saw a second-half lead slip away and fell to Temple, 47-40, Wednesday night at the Robins Center. Johanna McKnight scored eight points to lead the Spiders, who drop to 9-10 overall and 2-2 in the A-10. Ashley Morris netted 22 points to pace the Owls.
Morris sank a pair of free throws with 2:44 remaining to tie the game at 39-39, then drilled two more with 1:54 left, giving Temple (10-10, 3-1) its first lead since early in the first half. With just over a minute to play, the guard drained a three-pointer to put the Owls in the drivers' seat and cap a second-half that saw the visitors reverse a 14-point deficit with 13:41 remaining.
"You're up 14 and you think it's going to end," said Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "It's not. Not against a team like Temple who's played great teams and it's not going to end against teams in our league."
An Augustina Zygaite layup with 10:53 remaining gave the Spiders a 38-26 lead, but Richmond would be held scoreless over the next 5:19 as Temple chipped away at the margin. Morris hit a three to trigger the game-deciding rally, then scored the final 10 points to finish as the game's leading scorer.
"You have to fight to the end," said Shafer. "I thought we relaxed and once you do that, you can't get it back against an aggressive basketball team."
Temple ended the game with a 21-2 run, out-rebounded the Spiders 39-32 (including a 17-6 clip on the offensive glass) and scored 16 points off Richmond's 16 second-half turnovers.
Along with McKnight's eight points, Christina Campion and Katie Holzer each had seven and Danielle Bell scored five on a balanced scoring night. Nine of the 10 Spiders who saw action in the contest scored points.
After the visitors had cut the Spiders lead to 11-10 at the 9:57 mark, Richmond embarked on a 9-1 run over the next six minute to seize control of the half. Campion, who scored five in the run, finished the first half with seven points.
McKnight scored all eight of her points in the first 20 minutes and the Spiders took a 24-16 lead into the locker room. It marks Richmond's first loss of the season when leading at the half.
The Spiders return to action Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Saint Louis.
