TTN: Dayton continues streak, dismantles Owls

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/02/24/dayton-continues-streak-dismantles-owls/

(February 24, 2013)
Dayton shooting too much for Owls in road loss.

For a little more than 23 minutes, the Owls had No. 14/14 Dayton under control.

For the other 16-plus minutes it was a completely different story.

In their last Atlantic 10 Conference meeting the Flyers (24–1, 12–0 in the A-10) easily disposed of Temple (12–15, 5–7 in the A-10), 67–47.

Dayton went on runs of 13–0, 12–0 and 13–0 for a total of 16 minutes, 33 seconds to keep the Owls out of reach.

“They have a lot of guys that can score, a very high-powered offense,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I thought that we were right there with them, just hanging in there. I felt like they just had too much. We made too many mistakes and they capitalized on those mistakes.”

Temple shot 41.3 percent from the floor, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, but it wasn’t enough. Five Flyers scored in double digits, including four starters.

“It’s hard,” Cardoza said. “They way that they set up, every single guy on the court can shoot the three.”

“They’re a great passing team,” she added. “We’re doing the right thing where we’re trying to help out our teammates, but we couldn’t recover all the way out to the three-point line.”

Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams shot 50 percent and made three treys for a team high 13 points while dishing out four assists. Redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds to add to her six points. No other player was within 11 rebounds.

Senior center Victoria Macaulay struggled all game to make an impacted, fouling out with eight points and seven boards.

“Having our big, [Macaulay], out in foul trouble, that definitely hurt us,” Williams said.

The Owls jumped out to a 6–2 lead in the opening two minutes but Dayton’s first 13–0 run made it a 15–6 ballgame. Temple climbed back on the road to get within 20–18 with six minutes left in the half but the home team responded once again with a 12–0 run before heading into the locker rooms with the score 34–22.

Temple came out strong in the second half, chipping away at the Flyers’ lead. The Owls got to within 44–39 but couldn’t keep up the momentum. Dayton, with the score 54–45, went on their final 13–0 to ice the game.

“In the beginning of the game, in the beginning of the second half, when they went on those runs we countered them and we created some runs of our own,” Williams said. “We just didn’t put the dagger in them.”

The loss ensures the Owls finish with a losing record in the regular season for the first time since the 2002-03 season. That year they finished 14–15 (9–7 in the A-10) under then third-year coach Dawn Staley. It was the last time the Owls didn’t make the NCAA Tournament or Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

The only positive out of the loss is that their magic number to make the A-10 Tournament is down to one, after Virginia Commonwealth University lost Saturday to Xavier, 65–54.

Dayton extended its winning streak in the A-10 to 19, stretching back to Feb. 15, 2012 and includes their tournament run in which they defeated the Owls in the semifinals before downing St. Bonaventure for the conference title.

The Owls’ next game is at Butler (16–11, 7–5) on Wednesday. The game could have major implications on how the middle of the conference will shape up.

TTN: Adams: Macaulay's blocks present havoc for opponents

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/02/19/adams-macaulays-blocks-present-havoc-for-opponents/

(February 19, 2013)

Victoria Macaulay has learned to utilize size to block shots, and not take fouls.

I almost feel pity for opposing guards these past few games.

“It’s awesome because, especially when she gets a good one, it’s clean, it gets everyone going,” freshman forward Meghan Roxas said. “We get so hyped after that.”

Roxas is talking about senior center Victoria Macaulay’s uncanny ability to block everything she sees of late.

It’s almost laughable at this point. Macaulay, who stands at 6 feet, 4 inches, simply has to put her hands straight up in the air and wait for a driving opponent to throw up a shot.

No emphatic swat at the ball, just an impenetrable wall.

“It just comes natural,” Macaulay said. “I’m [tall] as it is. I should be blocking shots like that. It just took me up to now to really get more blocks and just really take my time.”

For three years there hasn’t been a shot-blocker like her on the roster. It’s a refreshing change.

Women’s basketball, unlike its masculine counterpart, is not known for its physical, imposing style of player. Blocks at Temple are more synonymous with sophomore center Anthony Lee or senior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson on the men’s side than Macaulay.

Well, guys, take some notes.

Macaulay doesn’t take a leaping swing at a shot most of the time the way you might see at a men’s game. She doesn’t have to jump really. With a wingspan that reaches higher than opponents can jump and get a clear shot over, it’s simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

“I think the last couple of teams that we played against have been teams that penetrate a lot,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “So because they’re penetrating there’s more opportunities for her.”

“And I think that she’s grown in the sense that her first couple of years she tried to block everything, and a lot of times she was off-balance and ended up fouling,” Cardoza added. “I think she picks and chooses when to go after them and the timing is a lot better and her body control is a lot better, so it [has] made her a better shot blocker.”

Women’s basketball doesn’t get attention largely because of its lack of the thunderous dunks and game-changing blocks. About the only player who has that impact is Baylor’s senior center Brittney Griner. Every time she dunks in a game it’s a big deal.

I’m not saying I want to see the women’s game become more like the men’s game. As much as I love watching a LeBron James chase-down block and gawk at old video of Michael Jordan dunks, I have a fond appreciation for the way the women’s game is played, with more finesse.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing to watch a nine-block game like the one Macaulay had Feb. 10 against Saint Louis, two shy of the Temple record.

“I never know how many blocks I have until after the game, and just realizing that I had nine blocks was really awesome,” Macaulay said.

The past few games have seemed effortless. A player drives into the paint, has to kick out to the edge to try and beat Macaulay to the backboard, stops before they hit the baseline to pull up and shoot something between a shorter jumper and layup, only to see Macaulay just standing there with arms high and no need to do anything else. The ball doesn’t go sailing into the stands but the point has been made nonetheless.

That has been the theme in the past five games. Macaulay has 29 blocks in that span, including five or more in four of those games. She set a career high with seven against Massachusetts on Feb. 3, and reset it a week later with nine against Saint Louis.

And she’s catapulted to the top of the Atlantic 10 Conference with 72, and was 12th in the nation with 2.79 per game heading into the game against St. Joseph’s on Sunday. She now stands in fourth place in career blocks (192), sixth in blocks per game (1.68).

“I think every team now should be scared,” Roxas said. “They can look at the scouting report and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, she had nine blocks.’ They should be scared to go in the paint. It gives us a little bit of an advantage in the scare-factor I think.”

Roxas would certainly be scared if she saw that coming up.

“I got blocked in Georgetown,” she said. “The wind was in my hair, my headband went back, but you just have to not let it get to you I think…I don’t like getting blocked.”

Macaulay must have the same effect on her opponents.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN: Hawks trump Owls in OT

http://temple-news.com/?s=Hawks+trump+Owls+in+OT

(February 17, 2013)
Temple can’t turn poor shooting day into upset as it falls below .500.

Tyonna Williams walked up the court in Hagan Arena with the Owls trailing 43–41 and a little over two minutes left in overtime against St. Joseph’s and fed the ball to Victoria Macaulay.

Only the feed wasn’t so much a feed, but a dribbler, that redshirt-senior forward Chatil van Grinsven easily stole and cruised to the other end. And suddenly the score was 45–41.

“I took a chance, I guess, just at the right time,” van Grinsven said. “I saw that she was going to pass the ball in the corner of my eyes. I guess I just took a leap of faith and I went for it and there it was.”

“I wouldn’t say that it [cost us the game],” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I felt like even plays before that offensively we were just bizarre. There were things that we could have done and we did something different.”

And what was originally a hard fought game between two bitter Big 5 rivals become a walk in the park for the Hawks. Temple fell 49–41, falling to 12–13 and 5–5 in the A-10.

St. Joe’s entered the game 8–1 in conference play. Temple had a chance to make a serious impact in the standings by hurting a rival and dropping their magic number to just one, but couldn’t take advantage of a rough shooting performance by both teams.

The Owls shot 25.9 percent from the field, and held the Hawks to 29.4 percent shooting.

“I think it’s always going to be a grind out with Temple,” Hawks’ coach Cindy Griffin. “We just needed a little bit of a break. And we got it, and then we got stops down on the other end.”

“It’s just a different type of game,” Griffin added. “Maybe the rivalry of Xavier and Dayton has the same thing but I would argue that, and say that there’s nothing like a Big 5 game.”

The game started out just as physically as it ended. Both teams struggled to find open shots, consistently facing pressure on every shot. After St. Joe’s pushed the lead to 4–0 in the opening minutes the Owls respond with two treys from sophomore guards Tyonna Williams and Rateska Brown to tie the game 6–6. But that was in the first eight minutes.

The pace barely picked up for the remainder of the half. The Owls got six straight points from redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames to push ahead 12–6 with over seven minutes remaining but the Hawks clawed their way back, tying it at 18 a piece with two minutes to go. The scoring woos continued as Kabengano made one of her free throws in the final minute to send the Owls to the locker room up 19–18.

The game within the game for the first half was the battle between van Grinsven and Macaulay. Neither found success, combining for four points and 12 rebounds. Macaulay tacked on two blocks but for the most part was irrelevant as the Hawks did everything they could to shut her down.

“It was very physical,” van Grinsven said. “My teammates were there to help me, though.”

“We were just trying to take away her strengths,” Thames said. “She likes to go to the baseline so we were trying to force her middle.”

Macaulay’s struggles continued in the second half making just one more bucket. She finished with seven points on 3-of-18 shooting, 13 rebounds and five blocks.

“I thought our defense was tremendous on their key players,” Griffin said.

Thames picked up much of the slack with 15 points and 13 boards, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Owls ahead. Temple jumped out to a 23–18 lead thanks to four more Thames’s points, but the Hawks eventually took the lead for a six-minute stretch off a jumper by redshirt-sophomore Natasha Cloud.

“I think because they were doubling and triple-teaming [Macaulay] that opened up a lot of opportunities for me, so I just wanted to make sure that I could contribute and help my team,” Thames said.

But over the final four minutes the Owls missed three of their final six freebies. The biggest miss came at the hands of Williams with the score 39–39 and 18 seconds remaining. Williams went to the line trailing by one and made the first, but couldn’t convert the second, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra session Macaulay made her final jumper to give Temple a 41–39 lead but it was all St. Joe’s from there. The costly turnover by Williams a few minutes later was the final straw, sealing the Owls’ fate.

“We knew coming into the game that it was going to be a nail-biter, because it’s always been that way,” Cardoza said. “I definitely thought we had the mindset to come out here and try to steal one, but once we got into overtime I felt like we started to panic when they took the lead.”

“I felt like for the first 42 minutes that we did everything we need to do to try to win the basketball game,” Cardoza added.

The loss snapped the Owls’ 13-game winning streak over their city rival. The game was also the final A-10 matchup between the two squads, although their yearly Big 5 battle will continue despite Temple moving to the Big East next season.

Temple returns home Wednesday to host Xavier (9–15, 3–7 in the A-10), which is coming off back-to-back wins over La Salle and Rhode Island. A win keeps the Owls in control of their own destiny to make the A-10 Tournament, where the opening rounds will be played at Hagan Arena.

TTN The Cherry: Owls need three wins

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/02/12/owls-need-three-wins/

(February 12, 2013)

If Temple can pull off three more wins in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where it's currently 4-4, they lock up a spot in the A-10 Tournament.

Temple holds tiebreakers over St. Bonaventure and Richmond, meaning their magic number the rest of the way is three. Virginia Commonwealth University is 2-7 but holds the tiebreaker over the Owls.

Assuming they defeat Xavier and Rhode Island (a combined 1-14 in the A-10), the Owls must beat one of the following: Dayton, St. Joseph's, Butler or Fordham. That secures them a spot in the postseason.

Without three wins the Owls need serious help to get into the tournament.

Three of their remaining six games are at home, against Rhode Island, Xavier and Fordham.

TTN: Remaining schedule could halt progress

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/02/12/adams-remaining-schedule-could-halt-progress/

(February 12, 2013)
The women’s basketball team has been playing better, but Owls’ toughest test lies ahead.

The easy part is over.

The Owls have six games remaining in the Atlantic 10 Conference season and it’s nothing short of a gauntlet to the finish.

Temple (11–12, 4–4 A-10) will face four teams with a record of 5–3 or better in conference play to close the season.

“It’s always important to play well down the stretch,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “We’re obviously not worried about what we’ve done in the past but what we’re doing now.”

“I feel like the last couple of weeks we’ve had some really, really good moments and sometimes been obviously that rock in the road where it’s a little bumpy,” Cardoza added. “But I feel like we find a way to get back on track.”

Temple took down Saint Louis (10–13) at home Sunday, 54–50. The Billikens came into the game 4–3 in the conference, so the win helped push Temple a few spots higher in the standings. Solid win, but nothing flashy.

Temple has a tendency this season to play its best against similarly skilled teams. They’re 8–3 (3–1 in the A-10) against teams with a winning percentage between .333 and .666. So the win against the Billikens was to be expected.

“I felt like our effort today was really good, and if we continue with that type of effort I’m sure good things will follow,” Cardoza said after the game.

Despite playing well against those opponents, the Owls are just 3–2 (1–1 in the A-10) this season against teams with a .333 or worse winning percentage. One of those losses came against a previously winless Kent State squad. La Salle was the other.

They simply haven’t shown up against easy competition. Senior center Victoria Macaulay said there’s an easy solution for it.

“Just trying to make sure we don’t play on their level,” Macaulay said. “Every game is a game, so every game we got to go out there, we got to play our best, bring everything to the floor.”

A-10 cellar dwellers Xavier and Rhode Island, a combined 2–14 in-conference, are easy trap games for a team that falls for the bait quite a bit. This team’s inexperience is likely to blame compared to previous seasons – when the Owls earned first-round byes in the A-10 tournament in 2011 and 2012.

“Sometimes it’s not always going to be the same as the last couple of years, but you still got to work hard and you’ve still got to fight for that position even thought things aren’t going well,” Macaulay said.

“We obviously don’t have past experiences,” freshman guard Meghan Roxas said of the young blood on the team. “We’re learning every game. I feel like every game we come in we know a little bit more about how the other team is doing.”

Then there are the big dogs to worry about.

Butler, Fordham, St. Joseph’s University and Dayton remain on the schedule and all are jostling for one of the four first-round byes in the A-10 tournament. They’re a combined 27–6. They won’t go down easy.

“We just go one game at a time, and right now we’re really happy with how we performed [against Saint Louis],” Cardoza said.

As would be expected from a young team, the Owls have had trouble this season against top competition. They’re just 2–7 against teams with better than a .666 winning percentage. One win came against a ranked Syracuse squad. Another came against then-2–0 Seton Hall.

The Owls already faced Duquesne and Charlotte, the other two teams fighting for a bye in the conference tournament with a combined A-10 record of 15–2, and lost by a combined score of 88–131.

The team is saying all the right things, right down to the “one game at a time” mantra, but their track record this season says this is going to be tough sledding. They could go 0–6. They could go 6–0. They could finish somewhere in between.

Depends which team shows up.

“You never know what happens,” Cardoza said. “For all we know we could go on a [six-game] win streak. You never know what can happen and I’m not going to count my team out.”

Don’t count them out, but you can’t dismiss reality.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN The Cherry: Women failing to build streak

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/02/08/women-failing-to-build-streak/

(February 8, 2013)

Wednesday's loss to Charlotte (17-4, 6-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference) marked the fourth time this season the Owls failed to build a three-game winning streak.

Temple (10-12, 3-4 in the A-10) knocked off Richmond and Massachusetts in back-to-back games before falling to the Rams 66-43. On three other occasions this season the Owls came into a game with two wins in a row and promptly lost.

Back in November they dropped Seton Hall and Northeastern before falling to Rutgers at home 66-50. They followed that up with wins over Bowling Green and Syracuse before being upset by Kent State 71-62. Then after going winless for a month Temple defeated Western Michigan and St. Bonaventure before Virginia Commonwealth handed them a 53-51 loss.

The Owls have followed up back-to-back wins by losing by an average of 12.5 points the next game. With just seven games remaining in the regular season the Owls won't be able to match their 13-game and 15-game winning streaks from the previous two years.

Coach Tonya Cardoza's record of at least one five-game winning streak in a season is also in jeopardy if they Owls can't string a few together.

Temple has winnable games against Saint Louis Sunday and Rhode Island next week before they face a 16-5 (7-0 in the A-10) St. Joseph's squad, setting up yet another possibility of not winning three straight.

It's not exactly the road map this team had in mind.

TTN: Adams: Dwindling team finds energy in sophomore guard

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/02/05/adams-dwindling-team-finds-energy-in-sophomore-guard/

(February 5, 2013)
Tyonna Williams is a leader on the women’s basketball team, despite being a sophomore.

Like senior guard Khalif Wyatt of the men’s basketball team, sophomore guard Tyonna Williams is a firecracker for the women’s basketball team.

“It’s great to have that person, kind of like [Wyatt],” sophomore guard Monaye Merritt said about Williams. “You see it, you just want to get excited too. It just makes you happy. Sometimes we do have to pull her in when it becomes a temper issue, because she’s so passionate about what she does.”

Williams, on many levels, is the spark plug behind the Owls. While senior center Victoria Macaulay gets all the attention and much of the stats, and deservedly so, Williams has grown into a leader on the team at an alarming rate.

Her ascent began last year when she sat behind the likes of departed senior guards BJ Williams and Shey Peddy and continued when Merritt was lost for the season to an offseason ACL injury.

“I’ve said it plenty of times. [BJ Williams and Peddy], they really taught me how to be the player that I am today,” Williams said. “Coming in last year I was cocky, because I’m coming from a top high school, I’ve always been the captain of my team.”

The onus all season has been on Williams to quarterback the team with Merritt down, no easy task for a sophomore in her first season in the starting lineup.

“What we’re asking of [Williams] is huge, and it’s a lot that comes with that,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “But it’s something that [she] wants and not everyone can do that. But with her personality she’s able to take on that.”

“To be honest, her freshman year not playing as much to now, I don’t think I would have ever thought that she would have been able to do what she’s done to this point this quickly,” Cardoza added. “Maybe her junior year, but the fact that she’s able to do it now is only going to make [Williams] that much better.”

The Fort Washington, Md., native is averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest. She also leads the team with 29 steals and is second on the team with a 75.7 percent free throw percentage.

But since the start of 2013 she’s averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 assists as she’s settled into her role at the point guard position. Williams averaged 20 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the Owls’ two wins last week against Richmond and Massachusetts, including a career high 23 points against the Minutemen.

“[Merritt’s] my roommate, so after every game, after every bad practice she’ll sit there with me and we’ll just talk about it,” Williams said. “We’ll watch film together and she’ll help me break down where she feels like I have to work even harder at.”

Williams’ season has been a steady rise from young starter to team leader, with several hiccups in between. Her worst was on Jan. 27 against La Salle when she played just 15 minutes and coughed up the ball nine times.

“That game, it’s kind of just still in my head,” Williams said. “I feel like I’m going to take that game throughout the rest of the season, because I never want to look like that again.”

Last season, the Owls were built with calm, cool and collected senior leaders. Things have taken a near 180-degree turn this year.

Williams is built on raw emotion. You can see her try to channel that emotion into anything she can to help the team win. On Jan. 30, when sophomore guard Rateska Brown hit her first trey of the night, it was Williams you could hear over the crowd trying to get her team psyched early.

When the opposition gets a breakaway opportunity, it’s Williams who’s chasing down layup attempts and isn’t afraid to foul to get her way and stop easy points.

The team has been trying to lessen the frequency of her negative emotional outbursts. The Owls perform as well as Williams’ emotions let them.

“I know that everything is a learning experience for her, and sometimes because she’s so emotional sometimes it gets the best of her,” Cardoza said. “She wants to be right, she wants to look good, and when it’s not that way she gets down on herself. And sometimes that frustration, her teammates see that, and that’s the part that we’re trying to get rid of.”

“We love [her emotion] but it just has to be monitored sometimes, because she’s just so impactful,” Merritt, her de facto mentor, said. “Whether it’s her being on a high, pulling us all up, or being on a low, and we all kind of suffer and have to pull her up.”

But don’t worry, like with Wyatt on the men’s team, the Owls will take the emotions because the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN The Cherry: Free throw shooting an asset for women's basketball

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/02/05/free-throw-shooting-an-asset-for-womens-basketball/

(February 5, 2013)

It doesn't get talked about nearly enough but free throw shooting is a valuable factor in any team's success (or lack thereof).

Temple, through all its ups and downs this season, has been fairly consistent in this department.

During the Atlantic 10 Conference season the Owls are shooting 73.2 percent from the stripe, converting 60 of their 82 attempts. That ranks fifth in the conference behind Fordham, Saint Joseph's, La Salle and St. Bonaventure.

Two Owls also grace the Top 15 in that category. Sophomore guard Tyonna Williams is third in the conference with 91.3 percent on 23 attempts while senior center Victoria Macaulay has converted 81.5 percent of her 27 freebies.

Macaulay's numbers show just how much she's improved in that department. Last season she made just 64 percent of her free throws during conference play and 67.7 percent overall.

Williams and Macaulay's success in that department has been part of the reason their scoring numbers are as high as they are.

But while the duo has combined for 50 freebies this A-10 season, the team only has 82. That's third lowest in the conference. Temple just doesn't force teams to foul them.

With that kind of success at the line the team should figure out more ways to get fouled and convert those easy opportunities.

-Jake Adams

TTN: Girls & Women in Sports Day held in Pavilion

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/02/04/girls-women-in-sports-day-held-in-pavilion/

(February 4, 2013)
Temple hosts event honoring the anniversary of Title IX.

Women’s basketball coach Tonya Cardoza has spent more than 20 years in collegiate or professional basketball as a player and coach.

On Monday, the third coach in program history to reach the 100-win plateau was the keynote speaker for the 27th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day held in the Pavilion.

National Girls & Women in Sports Day is Feb. 6, honoring the anniversary of Title IX, legislation passed to make for equal participation between sexes in sports that came into effect 41 years ago.

Cardoza has seen a lot of change and growth in women’s sports since she began playing basketball.

“The growth has just been how many girls are involved in sports nowadays, whether it’s basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, it’s just so many more avenues for them,” Cardoza said.

“I think when I started out there might have been maybe one or two [Amateur Athletic Union] programs in my area,” she added. “Now there’s an AAU program in every town. The visibility of the game has just grown so much that a lot of girls want to be involved.”

The opportunity to play in college was something Cardoza took full advantage of. The Massachusetts native grew up an inner city child and viewed her scholarship to play at the University of Virginia as a “rare opportunity.”

“I was in awe that I had that opportunity,” Cardoza said. “And as I got older I started to appreciate what was given to me, because a lot of kids back at home didn’t have that opportunity.”

“And now through basketball I’m able to do more,” she added. “Yes, I love to play, but now being able to teach it has just been very rewarding for me.”

While Cardoza took time out of her team’s practice to speak to the middle school students, student-athletes spent a few hours teaching the children new sports and playing games.

Senior women’s track & field thrower and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President Jennifer Abercrumbie said the event was a good way for Temple athletes to help the community.

“For me, just being a part of athletics, it’s about giving back,” Abercrumbie said. “Even though I’m not from the Philadelphia area, it’s just a way to impact the lives of youth and make sure the next generation has something I didn’t have.”

Temple athletics and the Athletic Training Education Program partnered to bring in girls from local middle schools, grades eight and under, where student athletes from many of the women’s teams on campus could introduce them to sports ranging from field hockey to rowing.

Temple received a grant from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee to host the event.

“The initial thought about the grant was that we could bring athletics and sports that the girls in this neighborhood, specifically, maybe may not have seen before to try and bring them in and show that there are opportunities and that there are ways to stay healthy,” Clinical Education Coordinator Jamie Mansall said.

“It was brought to our attention last year that it had been a long time before Temple hosted a National Girls and Women’s Sports Day,” Athletic Training Education Program Director Margo Greicar said. “So we seized the opportunity and pitched the idea.”

For Greicar, the event was a bit of a peak into the future.

“It’s pretty inspiring because we look at the student-athletes as ‘the youth’ and now they’re dealing with eighth grade and under,” Greicar said. “We’re looking at the future right there and it’s a wonderful thing.”

For Cardoza, the day was a reminder of how much Title IX has changed the landscape of sports and women.

“In the past I don’t think people looked at sports as being a way to travel the world and too further your education and to be higher ranks in anything you want to do,” Cardoza said. “I think Title IX has proved that girls, women, can do more than just sit at home and raised kids.”

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN The Cherry: Tournament hopes dim with improved conference

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2013/02/03/tournament-hopes-dim-with-improved-conference/

(February 3, 2013)

This season, with the influx in Atlantic 10 Conference teams in Butler and Virginia Commonwealth University, the conference tournament adds four new teams this season.

In past years the Owls had to be one of the top eight teams in the A-10 to dance in the postseason. This season the Owls have to be 12th or better.

Currently Temple is in ninth as they get set to take on Massachusetts, which is 13th. As the season is shaping up the Owls need to stay to as close to .500 as possible to ensure a middle seed.

With a win, Temple will make sure that four teams have one win or fewer in their conference, providing a comfortable cushion as they try and build a winning streak and head into the postseason with momentum.

If they can't get a head of steam going at least the Owls have some extra room to play with this season.

-Jake Adams

TTN: Adams: Through effort, freshmen fight for time in lost season

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/29/adams-through-effort-freshmen-fight-for-time-in-lost-season/

(January 29, 2013)
Freshmen prove themselves to coach while veterans get benched.


Coach Tonya Cardoza said something rather interesting following the Owls game against La Salle on Sunday.

“I know that I have those guys that are going to compete no matter what the situation is,” Cardoza said. “You know they’re going to work extremely hard.”

Now there’s some context I need to add to this. Temple (8–11, 1–3 Atlantic 10 Conference) lost, 71–55, to La Salle, (6–13, 2–2 A-10) a team it had beat 14 straight times until that point. And Cardoza wasn’t talking about her starters, but rather the likes of freshmen guards May Dayan, Meghan Roxas and freshman forward Jacquilyn Jackson.

“I felt like they didn’t quit,” Cardoza said. “They continued to try to stay together and tried to figure out ways. And that’s what you want. You just want guys that are not going to quit, not OK with losing and try to do everything that they can to try to make a difference.”

That’s what this season has come to.

Cardoza sat key starters redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames, despite her 66.6 percent shooting through the first half, and sophomore guard Tyonna Williams, for coughing up the ball nine times in 15 minutes of play, for almost the entire second half. She liked what she saw from her young bunch when combined with senior center Victoria Macaulay, sophomore guard Rateska Brown and freshman forward Sally Kabengano.

“It’s not that [Thames] just got benched or anything like that, I just felt like [Jackson] was being really aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Cardoza said.

“This was clearly an embarrassing game for me,” Williams said. “It doesn’t hurt me that she sat me because I deserved to be sat.”

Rather than play her best five throughout the game, Cardoza has resorted to playing those who fight the hardest and keep the mistakes down. Typically those should be synonymous ideas.

Not anymore.

To be honest, this is all she has left to do. Macaulay has been great for much of the season but you can’t tell me her benching two weeks ago hasn’t had adverse affects. It’s a sign she isn’t the leader she’s supposed to be.

“After the game that I only played six minutes…I just took it upon myself to try to work harder and try to get better at the little things,” Macaulay said.

Williams is a firecracker on the court. She’s the team’s energy. But if she has an off night, like she did against La Salle, the team sinks with her. Her consistency will grow, but in a year or two as she matures.

“It’s just going to make me fight even harder,” Williams said. “It’s going to make me never look like that again. It’s going to make me a better player at the end of the day.”

So now there may very well be nights like Sunday, when three bench players get more playing time than several starters. Cardoza seems more committed to playing whoever has the most heart, the most hustle and the most control.

“I don’t think it’s the juggling,” Cardoza said. “I think it’s the wanting to win and doing everything in your power to make sure that you win basketball games. I just think that we’ve been inconsistent with what we bring to the table every day.”

Cardoza seems to be sending a message not just for this season, but next. She won’t simply play the best five basketball players. She wants the five best fighters on the court.

And there’s still 11 games left in the regular season.

“We put them in situations that probably they’re not used to and they took advantage of those opportunities,” Cardoza said of giving Dayan, Roxas and Jackson all playing time at the end of the game.

Those opportunities are game situations to learn from, not to capitalize on matchups and win a game.

Last season this team had its fighters in the starting lineup. Former guard Shey Peddy would run through walls to win games no matter what the cost; she broke her nose in the A-10 tournament crashing into the bleachers and shrugged it off to help win the Owls opening round match.

Who on this roster is willing to run through a wall?

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN: Season hits low with loss, benching of senior leaders

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/22/season-hits-low-with-loss-benching-of-senior-leaders/

(January 22, 2013)
The women’s basketball team is at the low point of its worst season under coach Tonya Cardoza.

Far too often the past few weeks coach Tonya Cardoza has said the same thing.

“This is a tough one to swallow.”

The Owls (7–10, 1–2 Atlantic 10 Conference) spent the break, and the start of the A-10 season, finding different ways to lose almost every game.

Fall behind by 20 at the half? Check.

Blow a second half lead? Check.

Play sloppy throughout and fall just short? Check.

It hasn’t been pretty. Temple just doesn’t seem like a Cardoza-coached team.

“We lose the game to [Virginia Commonwealth University on Wednesday] because we don’t box out, we don’t put a body on them, and then we come in here and right from the very beginning that’s what we do,” Cardoza said.

In the loss to VCU there was some noticeable tension between freshman guard Tyonna Williams and other players on the team.

“I can’t lose my head like that though, because it affected my game,” Williams said after that game. “I’ve just got to do better in situations like that.”

This can’t be a case of lacking talent. The Owls, although young, are loaded with multiple players who can do plenty on the court to contribute.

As Sunday’s 65–45 drubbing at the hands of Duquesne (14–3, 3–0 in the A-10) indicated, the fault belongs largely to the senior leaders.

Senior center Victoria Macaulay’s ability to dominate goes without mention. Redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames is one of the better defenders on the team and a solid scorer, even if she doesn’t put up a ton of shots.

Cardoza benched them both Sunday for not competing hard enough. They played a combined 25 minutes.

“If we’re yelling at our younger guys to do things and they’re not doing them, then it’s not fair,” Cardoza said. “I think it starts with them. If they’re not doing it, then if we’re going to lose I’m going to lose with the younger guys that don’t know any better.”

“That was just a message that needed to be sent, that if you’re not going to do the things that are asked, the things that are important, the things are going to help your team win and you’re capable of doing those things, and you just choose not to, then you’re not going to play,” she added.

For some of the younger members of this squad, the message is already crystal clear. Cardoza praised Williams, freshman guard Erica Covile and freshman forward Jacquilyn Jackson for stepping up their efforts after the team had a heart-to-heart a few weeks ago.

“I felt like [Covile], out of everybody, has changed the most,” Cardoza said. “She’s committed to trying to be a better defender, trying to communicate.”

“[Williams is] a competitor, she’s going to give you everything she has,” Cardoza added. “It might not always be pretty but you know that she’s going to compete and try her best to do what’s needed for her team.”

A coach should not be praising her underclassmen and benching her seniors, though. Cardoza can only do so much, substitute players so much, experiment so much, before she simply must blame certain players for a lack of effort.

For Macaulay, she talked at the beginning of the year about how she wanted to improve upon her breakout A-10 season last year. For the most part she has. But senior leaders don’t get benched.

“It’s just about doing the little things that are going to help the team and if you’re not going to do those things then there’s no reason for you to play,” Cardoza said.

The Owls better hope Macaulay and Thames were humbled by this. It’s a tough pill to swallow for any athlete, but there’s a lesson behind it.

If not, expect to hear Cardoza repeat those dreaded words several more times.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN: Owls drop conference home opener

http://temple-news.com/sports/2013/01/17/owls-drop-conference-opener-2/

(January 17, 2013)
Same problems plague Temple, as they close gap but fall late.

If the Owls wanted to build any sort of momentum with the Atlantic 10 Conference season barely underway Wednesday would have been a good night to do it.

Instead Temple (7–9, 1–1 A-10) laid an egg against conference newcomer Virginia Commonwealth University (8–9, 1–1 in A-10), falling 53–51, despite making a late charge to close the gap.

“This is a tough one to swallow,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I felt like right from the start that we were trying to play catch-up and we really didn’t get a lot of production from a lot of guys.”

Somehow, despite a miserable game in all facets not named sophomore guard Rateska Brown, Temple still had one final shot in the closing seconds. But two shots came up short in the final four seconds. It was a fitting end.

“I didn’t take control of the situation like I should have,” sophomore guard Tyonna Williams said about her decision on the final play. “I hesitated on my shot. I passed it to [freshman forward Sally Kabengano], who hadn’t played a lot of minutes in the game, so she was forced to shoot a bad shot.”

Temple really had very little reason to be in the game in the closing seconds. They shot poorly—28.6-percent shooting and a lackluster offensive performance—yet surprising coughed up the ball just 13 times.

At times Williams, who’s grown into arguably the team’s most vocal leader, was visibly frustrated with the effort of some of her teammates. At one point she yelled something at freshman guard Meghan Roxas who was noticeably out-of-sorts for much of the game despite scoring seven points.

“I really don’t know,” Williams said about the team’s chemistry. “Maybe people couldn’t hear me calling the plays. I can’t lose my head like that though, because it affected my game. I’ve just got to do better in situations like that.”

“It all comes down to there’s a game to be won, and we had opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Cardoza said.

The Owls were forced to sit senior center Victoria Macaulay, who recorded three fouls, for 11 minutes which likely hampered their ability to make their presence felt in the low post.

When she was in Macaulay didn’t seem like the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, notching just eight points and eight boards.

“I don’t think it really hurt us because we were still on the boards heavy,” Williams said. “We had shooters in when [Macaulay] wasn’t in. I think people were kind of second-guessing themselves.”

The lone bright spot came from Brown, who single-handedly kept Temple in for much of the game. Brown recorded a career high 22 points while going six-of-15 from downtown. She also grabbed seven rebounds and notched six steals.

“I just had wide open shots,” Brown said. “The team needed me to shoot it so I just had confidence every time I shot the ball, but it don’t really matter because we didn’t win.”

But Brown went ice cold for much of the second half, at one point missing on eight straight before nailing a trey with 19 seconds to go to draw within two. But that was the last bucket for either team.

The Rams posed a lot of challenges for Temple on defense, resorting to a sagging zone that took away the post for much of the game. The Owls never had an answer.

“Depending on who was out there they sagged on a lot of guys and clogged the lane,” Cardoza said. “The only guys that they really were guarding were [Brown and Roxas] when she went out there.”

It’s the same things that have plagued the Owls much of the season. And they now sit at 1–1 in the conference. It’s the first time they’ve been .500 or less in conference play since their second game of the A-10 season last year when they lost to St. Bonaventure.

But that Bonnies team won the regular season championship. The same won’t likely be said of the 2013 Rams.

Temple’s schedule doesn’t get any easier, as they head to Duquesne (13–3, 2–0 in A-10), who just crushed Saint Louis 68–41, on Sunday.

–Jake Adams