Temple's McCarthy Leads Women’s Basketball to A-10 and Big 5 Win Over La Salle

PHILADELPHIA – Kristen McCarthy's 22 points led the Temple women's basketball team to its 12th straight win, a 72-63 defeat of La Salle (8-17, 4-6, 0-3) in Atlantic 10 and Big 5 action on Saturday afternoon. Temple (19-6, 10-0 A-10, 3-0 Big 5) remained undefeated in both conferences and now stands just one win away from its eighth-straight 20-win season.

McCarthy led all players with six steals while also pulling down seven boards and shooting 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Shey Peddy scored 16 points and tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds, while Natasha Thames tied her career high with 15 points and also grabbed nine boards.

Qwedia Wallace was Temple's fourth double-digit scorer with 13 points. Peddy and BJ Williams led all players with five assists apiece.

Ashley Gale scored 22 points for La Salle while Jess Koci finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Owls overcame a six-point deficit early in the second half with a 9-3 run to tie the game at 41-41, and after another tie at 43-43 Temple used a 7-0 run to take the lead for good.

After jumping ahead by as many as 10 points with four minutes remaining, the Owls had to hold off a comeback by the Explorers who pulled to within four, 67-63 with 1:39 remaining. Peddy went 2-of-2 at the line and Wallace hit a trey with 24 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

The Owls were out-rebounded 25-18 in the first half but turned things around in the second, grabbing 28 rebounds to the Explorers' 14.

Temple led 9-0 early in the game, but an eventual 10-point lead was completely erased by the end of the half.

The Owls committed 11 of their 16 turnovers in the first period and went 1-of-9 from behind the arc. La Salle tied the score for the first time at 21-21 and went on to take a 31-30 lead into the break after a buzzer-beating jumper from Koci.

Temple will look for its 20th win of the season at A-10 foe George Washington next Wednesday, Feb. 16. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.