QU Women’s Basketball Falls in Heartbreaker at Temple, 71-68

Sunday, November 27

McGonigle Hall - Philadelphia, PA

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

4-1

Temple

3-1

Quinnipiac

Temple

QU Women’s Basketball Falls in Heartbreaker at Temple, 71-68

11/27/2016 5:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Late-Game Drama Spoils Jen Fay's Career High 26-Point Effort

By: QU Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – With the score knotted at 66-66 and less than 1:30 remaining, another classic nail-biter between two very familiar foes over the last two seasons once again ended in a Temple victory as the Owls walked away with a 71-68 win on Sunday afternoon from McGonigle Hall.

Despite leading for more than 33 minutes of play, the Bobcats were unable to build enough of a margin to put away a very talented Temple squad. Owning an eight-point lead midway through the third quarter, the run of play looked to weigh heavily in favor of the Bobcats but Temple's lethal two-headed monster at the guard position woke up just in time to mount a comeback.

A seesaw affair for much of the third quarter, Quinnipiac managed a 6-0 run early in the fourth to rebuild a seven-point advantage but Temple once again responded with a 9-1 swing of their own to make it 57-56 Quinnipiac with 6:01 remaining.

Five lead changes in a five-minute span created a thrilling last-minute sequence that saw the Bobcats cough up a crucial turnover with 1:18 remaining. On the ensuring Temple possession, Quinnipiac played lockdown defensively with the Temple home crowd up off their seats for nearly the full 30-second shot clock. As the seconds were winding down, however, the ball founds it's way into the hands of a red-hot Alliya Butts who swished a three-pointer giving Temple a three-point lead.

Still with 40 seconds remaining, Quinnipiac had an opportunity to extend the game and decided to go for two points rather than a three-point attempt. Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) drove the lane but her learning runner bounced off the rim and out. Temple cleared the defensive rebound and made two free throws to put the game out of reach for a gamely Bobcat squad that ran into a fourth quarter barrage.

As a team, Temple scored 26 of their 71 points in the fourth quarter alone as the Owls went 7-of-14 from the floor while canning 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Temple finished the game hitting four of their nine three-pointers in the final 10 minutes including the game-deciding make from Butts.

Temple's hot shooting spoiled what was the best game of redshirt sophomore Jen Fay's (Lynbrook, New York) career as she finished with a career and game high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, 3-of-5 from three and 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Fay added six rebounds and two steals in just 25 minutes of action as she easily surpassed her previous career-best total of 11. After scoring 10+ points just once in her freshman season, Fay has notched a team-leading three straight double digit outings for the Bobcats. Her 26 points also represents the highest single-game point total by a Bobcat since Samantha Guastella went for 28 in a home win over Siena on Dec. 5, 2014 (66 games ago).

The lone other Bobcat to hit double figures on the day was Brittany Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) who went for 11 points (4-7 FG) with three offensive rebounds in just 16 minutes of action. Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) and Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) added eight points each for the Bobcats in another thriller between two familiar foes.

Meeting for the third time since the start of last season, each game between Quinnipiac and Temple has come down to the final minutes as all three decisions have been decided by less than three points. Quinnipiac claimed a 58-56 win at home in late November and the Owls turned around and pulled away late from the Bobcats in a 64-62 WNIT Second Round win in Hamden in mid-March. This recent three-point thriller adds to the drama between two very evenly matched sides.

Quinnipiac's defense came to play early as the Bobcats held the Owls to just 7-of-25 shooting in the first two quarters and held a 31-25 halftime lead. Temple, who came in averaging just under 83 points per game, struggled against a stifling man-to-man Bobcat defense and was held to their lowest-scoring half of the season. Unfortunately, the Owls responded with a strong defensive showing of their own as the Bobcats weren't able to capitalize and build a bigger lead.

The loss also signals the end of an unbelievable streak which saw the Bobcats record 45 consecutive victories in games that Quinnipiac has led at halftime. Before today, the last time Quinnipiac had fallen in a game where the Bobcats led at the half was the 2015 MAAC Championship game to Marist.

After scoring 11 points in the first three quarters of play, Butts erupted for a 13-point fourth quarter effort while going 3-for-4 from three as her hot shooting down the stretch led the Owls to the win. Her counterpart Feyonda Fitzgerald did not shoot the ball well but still managed to tally 19 points (6-17 FG, 3-4 3FG) with six assists (one turnover) and five rebounds. Combined with Tanaya Atkinson's double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds), the three-headed monster pumped in 57 of Temple's 71 points.

Quinnipiac hopes to rebuild a win streak back on the road Thursday night at Saint Peter's. The Bobcats are set to open MAAC play against a Peacocks squad whom Quinnipiac has never lost to in six games since joining the conference in 2013-14.