Strong Second Half Pushes Temple Past Iona

PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Iona College women's basketball team lost on the road Thursday at Temple, 59-39. The Owls used an 18-point third quarter to pull away and earn the win at McGonigle Hall.

GAME SUMMARY

Temple was out to an early 8-0 lead when the first media timeout took place with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter. Redshirt sophomore Shayla Middlebrooks got Iona on the board, finishing a layup after a nice pass from freshman Juana Camilion. The Owls led 13-4 at the end of the first. Temple's Mia Davis scored her 11thpoint of the game to open up a 16-4 lead for the Owls a minute into the second quarter. Two minutes later, redshirt sophomore Tori Lesko put in a layup to cut the deficit to single digits. The Owls used a couple more baskets to extend the lead back into double digits, but the MAAC Rookie of the Week, freshman Shyan Mwai scored on back-to-back possessions for the Gaels to make it 26-15. At the halftime break, the Owls led 28-17. In a very pivotal third quarter, the Owls ran away with the game thanks to their leading scorer, Mia Davis. The Maroon & Gold were outscored 18-12 in the frame; Davis was responsible for 12 of the 18 Temple points in the quarter, connecting on 3-of-4 field goal attempts and sinking 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Junior transfer Morgan Rachuscored five points in the quarter for Iona, but they couldn't keep up with Davis and the Owls. The two sides traded baskets back-and-forth for the entirety of the final quarter and Iona was eventually handed the 59-39 loss at the hands of Temple.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

Rachu scored eight points (3-9 FG) in the loss. It marks the first time this season that the Marathon, Wisconsin native scored in single digits.
Mwai and Rachu led the team with eight points. For the first time this season, someone other than Rachu shares the team-lead for points scored in a game.
Junior Amelia Motz made her season-debut for the Maroon & Gold. She played 15 minutes, pulled down two rebounds, had one assist, one steal and a season-high two blocks.
After shooting just 2-of-13 (15.4%) from the field in the first, the Gaels bounced back and found some rhythm in the second, shooting 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the floor.
Iona assisted on 13 of its 16 baskets in the game.
Mia Davis scored 25 of the Owl's 59 points in the contest. The next highest scorer on Temple was Alliya Butts with nine points.