Temple Women’s Basketball Cruises to 81-34 A-10 Win Over Rhode Island
The Temple women’s basketball team put the game out of reach early in the second half and cruised to an 81-34 win against visiting Rhode Island (6-10, 0-2) for its third straight win. Satoria Bell led the Owls (10-6, 2-0) with 17 points, while Kristen McCarthy scored 16.
PHILADELPHIA – Putting the game out of reach early in the second half, the Temple women's basketball team cruised to an 81-34 win against visiting Rhode Island (6-10, 0-2) for its third straight win. It was also the second time in three games the Owls (10-6, 2-0) scored 81 points, a season-high.
Satoria Bell scored 17 points off the bench including 3-of-5 from behind the arc to lead Temple, who remains undefeated in Atlantic 10 play. Kristen McCarthy scored 16 points and Shey Peddy added 14 points along with four assists and four steals.
Victoria Macaulay led all players with eight rebounds and a game-high four blocks, also tying her career high.
Megan Shoniker was the lone Rhode Island player to score in double digits, finishing with 13 points.
Ball control was the story of the first half as Temple scored 18 points off 14 Rhode Island turnovers, while the Owls committed just four turnovers.
Natasha Thames hit a pair of free throws midway through the half to give Temple its first double-digit lead, 21-11, and it was all Temple from there. McCarthy finished the half with 12 points including two fastbreak layups, the second of which gave Temple a 20-point, 37-17 advantage.
Bell scored 10 first-half points including back-to-back three-pointers. Overall, the Owls shot 47.2 percent from the field compared to 31.8 percent for Rhode Island, as the Rams were held to 7-of-22 shooting.
Peddy hit Temple's sixth trey of the game less than three minutes into the second half to give the Owls a 31-point, 51-20 lead, part of what became a 12-0 opening second-half run.
The Rams scored just five points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and Thames made a layup just past the midway point to put Temple up by 40, 65-25.
Temple finished with 46 rebounds, one shy of its season high, while Rhode Island tallied 29 boards. The Rams' 25 turnovers were the most by an opponent this season, and the Owls recorded 12 steals along with a season-high eight blocks.
Temple will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 15 as the Owls travel to Fordham for a 1:00 p.m. contest.