By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA – Even when the score in the second quarter showed Saint Joseph’s with an 11-point lead over Temple Monday night at home in Hagan Arena in the first Big Five game of the season, if you’ve been at this matchup over the years you had the hunch this was not going to be the rare blowout result, especially dating back to the days of Dawn Staley’s arrival for her first coaching gig at Temple in 2001-02.
That’s when the tables turned around and the Owls took over the domination which continued when Tonya Cardoza succeeded Staley in 2008.
But no matter whether both teams were very good, not so good, or only one was good, even if one had an early comfortable lead as the Hawks did in this game, all the time in the world existed for this to be another photo finish..
What you didn’t know, since both teams have new arrivals, precisely who was going to emerge in a key clash in the four-game round robin of the City Series.
The teams prior to Monday had passed their opening encounters with Temple at home beating Fairfield
and Duquesne in McGonigle Hall, while Saint Joseph’s
won on the road Thursday at Columbia, a win gaining some stature with the Lions’ upset at home Sunday over Atlantic 10 defending champion Fordham.
But following a season of struggle with an eye to this time around, the Hawks faithful were rewarded as Saint Joseph’s fought off a Temple rally and rode Katie Jekot’s eight straight foul shots in the final 1:07 minutes in regulation to take a narrow 67-63 triumph, snapping a three-game Temple win streak in the series.
Not only is it Saint Joseph’s first win against the Owls since 2015, it’s the first Hawks win against Temple in this building since 2014, though the two stopped playing in-season home-and-home after the gang from North Broad Street left the Atlantic 10 for the American Athletic Conference.
Rookie Claire Melia from Ireland had 17 points for Saint Joseph’s, Jekot scored 15, while junior guards Lula Roig of Spain and Mary Sheehan each scored 13 points. Roig’s total included 9-for-12 from the line.
As a team, Saint Joseph’s was 27-for-31, including 15-for-16 in the last five minutes.
Mia Davis had 29 for Temple while transfer Ashley Jones scored 16 but fouled out late in the game.
Marissa Mackins, who also was in foul trouble, was held to six points and just one three-pointer in six attempts.
A sign of progress for the Hawks was veteran coach Cindy Griffin, who a year ago was sticking to the mantra of trying to get better each day with an eye toward the end of the season.
“ We continued to be aggressive. It was a confidence booster.”
In a sense, Cardoza agreed, noting, They just outsmarted us, took advantage of mishaps that we had, they just outplayed us.
“We tried to scrap back.”
Addressing strategy when Temple put pressure on defensively, Cardoza said, “It was desperation. We had to do something. It got us back into the game, but we needed to get stops.
“We have to get smarter. We committed a lot of fouls way too early every quarter. And then we have to take advantage, know what we’re doing, and trying to accomplish and not get rattled.”
Temple next hosts former Atlantic 10 foe Xavier, which itself went elsewhere to the Big East, Thursday, in McGonigle Hall before hosting No. 4 Connecticut in an early American game next door in the Liacouras Center, Sunday at 1 p.m.
Saint Joseph’s meets Seton Hall Sunday at Fordham as part of a doubleheader with Villanova playing the host Rams.
Then the Hawks meet Penn next Wednesday in another key Big Five tilt.”
“It won’t be getting any easier. That’s for sure,” Griffin said.
Drexel Falls to DePaul: The Dragons dropped their first game of the season after a pair of victories, losing in Chicago in the second round of the Women’s NIT to host and 18th ranked DePaul 81-57.
In the consolation bracket, Drexel next host Pacific in the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Bailey Greenberg had 17 for Drexel and Keishana Washington scored 14.
Chante Stonewall had 19 points for the Blue Demons, Sonya Morris scored 17, and Lexi Held scored 15.
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