http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/14/owls-tough-schedule-contributes-to-struggles/
(January 14, 2013)
The Owls didn't envision being 7-8 at this point in the season. That's been well-documented.
But if there's any sort of solace to take from that rough start, one game into the Atlantic 10 Conference season it's this. Temple had one of the most ridiculous RPI's in the nation, and certainly the toughest in the conference.
RPIRatings.com has two different sets of numbers, one on their main page and another by Jeff Sagarin. The numbers differ a bit but the general consensus is the same.
Temple played one of the toughest schedule in the A-10 thus far. According to Sagarin's numbers, the Owls had the 13th toughest schedule as of Jan. 13. The next closes was St. Joe's who came in at 39th in the nation.
According to RPIRatings.com, the Hawks came in at 22nd while the Owls sat at 33rd.
What does this mean?
Well, for starters the Owls are clearly more battle-tested as the conference schedule starts. The tough part of the season should be over, although coach Tonya Cardoza would beg to differ.
Secondly, while teams like Dayton, St. Joe's and Duquesne may have a better record to date than the Owls it seems like a good predictor that the Owls should be able to leapfrog some of these squads if the ratings are any indication.
Maybe all hope is not lost on the season.
-Jake Adams
Jan 14, 2013
TTN The Cherry: Macaulay earns A-10 Co-Player of the Week honor
http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/14/macaulay-earns-a-10-co-player-of-the-week-honor/
(January 14, 2013)
Senior center Victoria Macaulay notched her first Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Player of the Week award this season.
The Staten Island, NY native averaged 22.5 points and nine rebounds in the Owls (7-8, 1-0 in A-10) first two wins of 2013, helping to snap their six-game skid and kick off conference play on the right foot. Her 23-point, 12-rebound performance against St. Bonaventure was her seventh double-double this season.
Macaulay also has two Big 5 Player of the Week awards to her credit this season while sophomore guard Rateska Brown earned the A-10 award on Dec. 3.
St. Joe's redshirt-senior center Chatilla van Grinsven was named the Co-Player of the Week after knocking down 24 points and grabbing 18 boards in the Hawks win over Richmond.
Looking ahead to Wednesday's matchup against A-10 newcomer Virginia Commonwealth University, junior swing-woman Robyn Parks tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards against Saint Louis.
The two will take the court at Liacouras at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in an early duel of two perceived A-10 MVP favorites.
-Jake Adams
(January 14, 2013)
Senior center Victoria Macaulay notched her first Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Player of the Week award this season.
The Staten Island, NY native averaged 22.5 points and nine rebounds in the Owls (7-8, 1-0 in A-10) first two wins of 2013, helping to snap their six-game skid and kick off conference play on the right foot. Her 23-point, 12-rebound performance against St. Bonaventure was her seventh double-double this season.
Macaulay also has two Big 5 Player of the Week awards to her credit this season while sophomore guard Rateska Brown earned the A-10 award on Dec. 3.
St. Joe's redshirt-senior center Chatilla van Grinsven was named the Co-Player of the Week after knocking down 24 points and grabbing 18 boards in the Hawks win over Richmond.
Looking ahead to Wednesday's matchup against A-10 newcomer Virginia Commonwealth University, junior swing-woman Robyn Parks tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards against Saint Louis.
The two will take the court at Liacouras at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in an early duel of two perceived A-10 MVP favorites.
-Jake Adams
TTN: Cardoza notches 100th win, Owls hold off Bonnies
http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/13/cardoza-notches-100th-win-owls-hold-off-bonnies/
(January 13, 2013)
The Women's basketball team helped its coach earn a career milestone in a 67-59 win against St. Bonaventure
(January 13, 2013)
The Women's basketball team helped its coach earn a career milestone in a 67-59 win against St. Bonaventure
It took longer than maybe she would have liked, but coach Tonya Cardoza finally notched the 100th win of her coaching career.
The Owls (7-8) pulled away late against Atlantic 10 Conference foe St. Bonaventure 67-59 in the conference season opener, making Cardoza just the third coach in program history to reach triple digit wins.
“It’s awesome,” Cardoza said of being linked with former coach Dawn Staley. “Dawn’s a really good friend of mine. She was a great coach here, so to be mentioned in the same breath as her is a bonus for me.”
I’ve been fortunate to cover this team for the past three seasons, which includes many of Cardoza’s 54 wins over that time. She is a class act and probably one of the better teachers of the game out there today.
She loves to compete more than anyone, but cares tremendously for her team. There have been press conferences where she’s been more excited for a player’s accomplishments or record-breaking performance than that player was. She wants nothing but the best out of everyone she coaches and she’s a large reason why the team hardly missed a beat when Staley departed six years ago.
So it’s only fitting that the Owls made the game as suspenseful as possible for their coach.
As is their credo this season the Owls certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves. The Bonnies (7-9) came into the season in similar straights as Temple, having lost four seniors on a squad that reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament last season.
The Bonnies started out white hot, nailing open shot after open shot en route to a 59.1-percent shooting performance in the first half. Temple headed to the lockers trailing 33-31 while shooting almost as well, going 13-for-29 from the floor in the first half.
Senior center Victoria Macaulay dueled early and often with St. Bonaventure junior forward Doris Ortega on the stat sheet. Macaulay hit the break with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and three rebounds while Ortega matched her with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting and four assists.
“I knew that the double-team was coming so I was trying to find my other players, get them touches,” Macaulay said of her strategy on the day. “Other players on the team can shoot as well.”
“Obviously they’re undersized but they do a good job of clogging the paint and making it tough for you to do anything inside,” Cardoza said.
The second half started out much the same as the Owls hung close but only took the lead once, for all of 13 seconds, in the first 18 minutes of the half. But then something clicked for the Owls and not for the Bonnies as Temple went on a 13-2 run in the final three minutes to walk away with the win.
Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams drained the go-ahead trey with a minute, 26 seconds left, and the Owls never looked back.
“[We] thought it was going to be [sophomore guard Rateska Brown] on the other side,” Cardoza said of the play call.” But they sagged off of [Williams] and once she was open she was definitely going to put it up.”
Macaulay knocked down six of the final 13 points and finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, her seventh double-double of the season. Doris didn’t quite keep up, ending with 16 points, eight assists and five boards.
It wasn’t so much that the Owls took the lead as much as it was that St. Bonaventure just lost all ability to make a bucket in the final minutes.
“To be honest, it just got to the point where they were missing shots, because they still were wide open shots,” Cardoza said.
In the end it doesn’t matter. Temple stands at 1-0 in the A-10 after a dreadful close to their non-conference season, which ranked as the eighth-toughest RPI in the nation, according to RPIratings.com.
And for Cardoza this marks yet another milestone in her still relatively young coaching career.
“It’s exciting, obviously,” Cardoza said. “I’m just happy that we were able to get our first conference win and another road win, that’s the most important thing. I’ve had some really good players that played here for me and obviously it’s because of them and my coaching staff that I’ve been able to reach this milestone.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.
TTN: Six up, six down
http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/07/six-up-six-down/
(January 7, 2013)
Losses pile up as losing streak continues
(January 7, 2013)
Losses pile up as losing streak continues
It’s the longest losing streak in coach Tonya Cardoza’s tenure as coach of the Owls, who are now 5-8 this season.
“The problem is not knowing how to put teams away, being disciplined and following the game plan,” senior center Victoria Macaulay. “We have to work together and be a unit. I think we’re trying but obviously trying wasn’t good enough.”
At this point everything has gone wrong. They’ve fallen behind big in the first half. They’ve lacked toughness at critical moments. They’ve turned over the ball at alarming rates. And on Friday they blew a 17 point lead against Howard.
“If we were just a more disciplined basketball team, some of this stuff wouldn’t happen,” Cardoza said. “They say all the things they’re supposed to do, but when it’s time to go out and do it, it’s not getting done.”
Before the game against Howard, Macaulay and redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames both Tweeted about ending the skid, with Thames saying, “Gameday…#nomoreexcuses.”
Didn’t work.
As the losing streak has continued the Cardoza’s patience has been running. She’s been increasingly stressed by several members of the team not showing the competitive fire she wants from all of her players.
There was praise for sophomore guard Tyonna Williams’s efforts and desire to beat the best despite her continued turnover issues earlier this week, but Cardoza hasn’t had much praise for anyone else.
For her credit she hasn’t resorted to calling out any of her players either for a lack of effort.
“It’s hard when no one else really wants to handle the basketball,” Cardoza said of Friday’s problems. “We just get beside ourselves. It’s like a hot potato where everyone hurries up and tries to get rid of the basketball instead of just being patient and calm.”
“Obviously they’re going to double team [Williams] and make her give up the basketball,” Cardoza added. “We got to better mentally, more tougher. We got to play with more desire and heart.”
It didn’t help that Macaulay had her worst game of the season by far either, scoring two points, grabbing nine rebounds and coughing up the ball six times.
“Sometimes she gets so focused on scoring that she doesn’t play defense,” Cardoza said. “She could have played better, a lot of them could have played better.”
If hustle and desire are the problems you can’t blame Macaulay or Williams. You can’t really blame Thames either, who’s still not completely back from last season’s knee injury but did knock down 19 on Friday.
The young players just don’t seem to have that passion. Maybe it’s something that takes time to develop, after you learn the college game. Maybe they’re just not as concerned with like Williams or Macaulay.
You don’t see freshman forward Sally Kabengano using her size to crash the lanes nearly as much as she could. You don’t see whichever guard is at the two position taking pressure off Williams or being any sort of scoring threat.
And that’s what could be seen back in December, the last time this team played at home.
“Working with a lot of young and inexperienced guys has been a bit hard because there’s a lot of things you still have to learn about playing college basketball,” Macaulay said “It took me up until last year to realize how important it is to perform and work as a team.”
Cardoza won’t say it’s because of the youth, but outside of Williams you don’t see the same passion from the young blood on the roster.
And Cardoza doesn’t think they’ve hit rock bottom yet.
“To be honest I don’t think so because it’s the simple things that we’re not doing, it’s not something major,” Cardoza said.
Get ready for a bumpy ride.
-Jake Adams
TTN The Cherry: Williams lone bright spot in losing streak
http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/05/williams-lone-bright-spot-in-losing-streak/
(January 5, 2013 [Meant for Jan. 3])
Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams has shown improvement across the board despite the Owls' five-game losing streak, one small thing that has coach Tonya Cardoza excited.
"She wants it and she's going out and trying to get better, because she wants to compete against the very best," Cardoza said after Wednesday's loss to Georgetown.
Temple is now 5-7, even if Williams has done her best to stop the bleeding.
The first-year starter was barely hanging onto her starting gig for the first few games of the season. The point guard averaged 4.85 assists in the team's first seven games, but just 7.4 points on 29.6-percent shooting and 1.14 steals while coughing up the ball 4.57 times per contest.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday she vowed to be in the gym non-stop to improve her game, and early signs are positive.
Despite dropping five straight, she's improved in all categories, with 5.6 assists versus 4.4 turnovers, 10.2 points, 2.4 steals and four rebounds per game.
Cardoza said after the game she wished more of her team was playing with the intensity and desire to be the best the way Williams has shown of late.
-Jake Adams
(January 5, 2013 [Meant for Jan. 3])
Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams has shown improvement across the board despite the Owls' five-game losing streak, one small thing that has coach Tonya Cardoza excited.
"She wants it and she's going out and trying to get better, because she wants to compete against the very best," Cardoza said after Wednesday's loss to Georgetown.
Temple is now 5-7, even if Williams has done her best to stop the bleeding.
The first-year starter was barely hanging onto her starting gig for the first few games of the season. The point guard averaged 4.85 assists in the team's first seven games, but just 7.4 points on 29.6-percent shooting and 1.14 steals while coughing up the ball 4.57 times per contest.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday she vowed to be in the gym non-stop to improve her game, and early signs are positive.
Despite dropping five straight, she's improved in all categories, with 5.6 assists versus 4.4 turnovers, 10.2 points, 2.4 steals and four rebounds per game.
Cardoza said after the game she wished more of her team was playing with the intensity and desire to be the best the way Williams has shown of late.
-Jake Adams
TTN The Cherry: Losing streak continues
http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/05/losing-streak-continues/
(January 5, 2013 [Meant for Jan. 3])
Only twice in coach Tonya Cardoza's tenure as the head of the Owls' program has her squad lost five consecutive games.
The only other time was last season when Temple dropped non-conference games against ranked opponents Ohio State, Texas A&M and Rutgers and non-ranked foe's Northern Illinois and St. John's.
Last season the Owls had the likes of senior guards Shey Peddy, BJ Williams, and Kristen McCarthy to stop the bleeding and eventually lead the team to a 23-10 season.
This season there's senior guard Victoria Macaulay, sophomore guard Tyonna Williams and not much else.
Cardoza called this one of the most challenging times in her five years at Temple.
"Most definitely," Cardoza said. "And I don't think it has anything to do with youth, I think it's a mindset that you have to play when you play this game."
The Owls have two more games before they start the Atlantic 10 Conference season. It'll be interesting to see how she tries to right the ship.
-Jake Adams
(January 5, 2013 [Meant for Jan. 3])
Only twice in coach Tonya Cardoza's tenure as the head of the Owls' program has her squad lost five consecutive games.
The only other time was last season when Temple dropped non-conference games against ranked opponents Ohio State, Texas A&M and Rutgers and non-ranked foe's Northern Illinois and St. John's.
Last season the Owls had the likes of senior guards Shey Peddy, BJ Williams, and Kristen McCarthy to stop the bleeding and eventually lead the team to a 23-10 season.
This season there's senior guard Victoria Macaulay, sophomore guard Tyonna Williams and not much else.
Cardoza called this one of the most challenging times in her five years at Temple.
"Most definitely," Cardoza said. "And I don't think it has anything to do with youth, I think it's a mindset that you have to play when you play this game."
The Owls have two more games before they start the Atlantic 10 Conference season. It'll be interesting to see how she tries to right the ship.
-Jake Adams
TTN: Thames in high demand
http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/04/thames-in-high-demand/
(January 4, 2013 [Meant for December])
Cardoza needs big minutes from Thames despite injury history.
(January 4, 2013 [Meant for December])
Cardoza needs big minutes from Thames despite injury history.
For any college basketball player 38 minutes a game is a lot to ask.
Yes, it’s not uncommon to see at least one athlete with at least 38 minutes on any box score, but that doesn’t diminish anything. Being on the court for over 90 percent of the action takes its toll.
The Owls ask that regular of senior center Victoria Macaulay. No surprise there.
Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams does that as well more often than not, but that’s because she’s the most capable point guard on the team and coach Tonya Cardoza doesn’t have much choice.
Then there’s redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames. Thames played all of eight games last season before injuring her knee. She wasn’t quite 100 percent when this season began, and she’s not quite there yet.
“I definitely feel like I’m getting back to myself,” Thames said. “I’m not quite there yet but I definitely feel like I’m getting there.”
Thames has played at least 38 minutes in five of her last six games. The only exception was against Bowling Green on Nov. 28 when she left early with a concussion and missed the following game. No other player has that kind of streak going right now, and she’s the most banged up of them all.
Thames also pulls double-duty during these long games while trying to recover, playing center when Macaulay needs a breather despite being several inches shorter. But she’s the only logical option to do so.
It’s quite a demand on one of Cardoza’s most senior members.
“She’s doing well,” Cardoza said. “Every game that she plays in, every practice, is just better, because she’s been out of basketball for so long.”
“I’m not quite there yet but I definitely feel like I’m getting there,” Thames said.
At this point in the season the big accomplishment is that Thames is back on her feet playing consistent minutes on a team that lacks depth in the front court. Really she has to be on the court, pain or no pain.
“Just from the beginning of the season, just getting back used to it, my knee was sore a lot,” Thames said. “I guess I was always thinking about hurting my knee when I’m out there, but now I don’t have time to think about my knee.”
“Now I don’t think about it, I don’t get tired when I’m out there and playing a lot of minutes,” she added. “I definitely feel like I’m getting back to myself.”
Currently, Thames is averaging 6.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting at a 45.6 percent clip. She’s only taken more than ten shots once this season, against Northeastern, despite being one of the better shooters on the team in the early going.
They’re both solid numbers for a player returning from injury and starting every game for the first time in her career. She’s turning the ball over almost three times a game, however.
But with her and Macaulay being the focal points in the post game Thames’s stat line will have to improve across the board to help this team overcome its early-season struggles and take the next step.
She has the tools to be the number two option on this squad and take some of the load of Macaulay and even Williams. She just has to get comfortable on the court again and take charge.
“I just think it’s about getting my confidence back,” Thames said. “Because when I’m aggressive on defense that will make me be aggressive on offense.”
“So I think that’s one thing I need to do is be aggressive every night,” she added. “When I’m aggressive then I get fouled, I’m making free throws, I’m getting shots at the basket.”
Temple has only played four games in December and only has one more slated before the new year. The numbers show it’s helped Thames, averaging 9.33 points and seven rebounds in her past three games.
The rest this month should help her down the home stretch, especially during the Atlantic 10 Conference season, when she’ll be vital to helping the Owls make any sort of run for a title. She needs to continue to get better. The team needs her.
-Jake Adams
TTN The Cherry: Thames showing progress
http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/04/thames-showing-progress/
(January 4, 2013 [Meant for December])
Redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames appears to be getting more comfortable with each game following her season-ending knee injury last season.
Coach Tonya Cardoza limited her only other big man outside of senior center Victoria Macaulay to 16, 27 and 22 minutes in the team's first three games, respectively. Since then she's averaged 36.4 minutes per game. Her lowest total was 28 against Bowling Green when she left early with a concussion, causing her to miss the next game.
In her last three starts Thames has shot 57.1 percent from the field, compared to 39.3 percent in her previous five starts. In that same span she's averaging 9.33 points compared to five points to start the season.
only her rebounding has been consistent, as she's averaged seven per contest with only one double-digit rebound performance thus far.
As she gets more comfortable expect both her scoring and rebounding to improve further.
-Jake Adams
(January 4, 2013 [Meant for December])
Redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames appears to be getting more comfortable with each game following her season-ending knee injury last season.
Coach Tonya Cardoza limited her only other big man outside of senior center Victoria Macaulay to 16, 27 and 22 minutes in the team's first three games, respectively. Since then she's averaged 36.4 minutes per game. Her lowest total was 28 against Bowling Green when she left early with a concussion, causing her to miss the next game.
In her last three starts Thames has shot 57.1 percent from the field, compared to 39.3 percent in her previous five starts. In that same span she's averaging 9.33 points compared to five points to start the season.
only her rebounding has been consistent, as she's averaged seven per contest with only one double-digit rebound performance thus far.
As she gets more comfortable expect both her scoring and rebounding to improve further.
-Jake Adams
TTN The Cherry: Macaulay shining despite team's record
http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/01/04/macaulay-shining-despite-teams-record/
(January 4, 2013 [meant for December])
Even if her team doesn't have the record to show for it, senior center Victoria Macaulay is sure making a case for Atlantic 10 Conference Most Valuable Player.
The Owls' lone senior ranks near the top in several categories in the conference just over a month into the season. She has 16.8 points (third in the A-10), 9.7 rebounds (fourth) and 2.1 blocks (third) per game, and is shooting 56.5 percent (first) all while playing 35.6 minutes (fourth).
The only players with comparable numbers are Virgina Commonwealth University's senior swing-woman Robyn Parks and Butler's junior forward Daress McClung.
Parks is averaging 18 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while playing 34.6 minutes. But she's shooting under 50 percent.
McClung is averaging 16.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. But she's also shooting under 50 percent and doesn't rank in the top-10 in minutes played like the other two candidates.
It's too early to designate a clear favorite but Macaulay has to be up near the top, if not at the top.
-Jake Adams
(January 4, 2013 [meant for December])
Even if her team doesn't have the record to show for it, senior center Victoria Macaulay is sure making a case for Atlantic 10 Conference Most Valuable Player.
The Owls' lone senior ranks near the top in several categories in the conference just over a month into the season. She has 16.8 points (third in the A-10), 9.7 rebounds (fourth) and 2.1 blocks (third) per game, and is shooting 56.5 percent (first) all while playing 35.6 minutes (fourth).
The only players with comparable numbers are Virgina Commonwealth University's senior swing-woman Robyn Parks and Butler's junior forward Daress McClung.
Parks is averaging 18 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while playing 34.6 minutes. But she's shooting under 50 percent.
McClung is averaging 16.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. But she's also shooting under 50 percent and doesn't rank in the top-10 in minutes played like the other two candidates.
It's too early to designate a clear favorite but Macaulay has to be up near the top, if not at the top.
-Jake Adams
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