SMU ousts Temple in AAC women’s quarterfinals, 63-55
SMU beat Temple 63-55 in the AAC quarterfinals, winning the rubber game of their unique back-to-back-to-back games.
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The Temple women’s basketball team was eliminated from the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday with its 63-55 loss to Southern Methodist in the quarterfinal round at Fort Worth, Texas.
The Mustangs (14-13, 7-7 AAC) took the lead for good at 20-18 in the second quarter and controlled the tempo much of the afternoon, finding different ways to score. On the other hand, contested shots and foul trouble hindered the Owls (13-15, 8-8).
“I felt like we passed up some wide-open shots and we weren’t able to knock down shots,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza. “It was hard because we put them at the free-throw line so often. [Allowing] 26 free throws, it’s going to be hard to win basketball games.”
Tuesday was the third consecutive matchup between these two teams — a first in Temple program history. They split the first two at the end of the regular season before meeting in the conference tournament.
The Owls were led by forward Mia Davis, who had team highs of 12 points (4-for-14 from the field) and nine rebounds. She ended her career as Temple’s all-time leading scorer and 26 points shy of becoming the AAC’s all-time leading scorer.
Jasmine Smith was the difference maker for the Mustangs. She scored 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Savannah Wilkinson, who had a game-high 14 rebounds, and Sydne Wiggins chipped in 10 points apiece.
SMU will play Central Florida on Wednesday. The winner advances to the championship game Thursday.
Late Temple scoring drought
A pair of Davis 18-footers from the top of the key helped Temple get within two points with 8 minutes, 56 seconds to go in the third quarter.
The Owls went the next five minutes without a point, falling behind by eight, struggling to string together consistent offensive opportunities.
“I just feel like offensively, pretty much all season,” Cardoza said, “if Mia’s not scoring then we struggle. And she didn’t have a great night offensively because of how they defended her.”
A Jalynn Holmes and-one on a late fourth-quarter run got Temple’s bench up on its feet. Although neither proved enough to put Temple truly back in contention. The Owls shot 21-for-56 (37.5%) from the field as a team.
SMU was more patient offensively. The Mustangs shot 19-for-55 (34.5%) while eating up chunks of the shot clock to generate clean looks at the basket.
High screen-and-roll actions mixed with quick passes to backdoor cuts gave SMU plenty of interior opportunities. Of the Mustangs’ 63 points, 24 came in the paint.
Mustangs made a living at the line
Free throws accounted for a considerable chunk of the Mustangs’ scoring total, shooting an efficient 22-for-26 from the line, compared to Temple’s 8-for-12.
Dribble drives into traffic, looking to draw contact helped put them at the stripe. As did a handful of overly aggressive defensive mistakes by the Owls.
With 20 seconds left in the first half and SMU in the bonus, point guard Smith curled to her left off a high screen. Temple freshman Tiarra East, the help defender, tried to poke the ball out of Smith’s hands.
Smith drew the contact, which sent her to the foul line. She knocked down both ends of the one-and-one, giving SMU a seven-point advantage at the half.