(Guru's note: Information used in preview post is repeated here.)
By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA - In many ways it was appropriate that a point guard would transform into a scoring explosion in the final minutes of Temple's narrow 63-60 victory over St. Joseph's at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Wednesday night that made the Owls' Dawn Staley the winningest coach in the program's history.
That's exactly what former Central star Ashley Morris did to rally Temple (16-11, 9-2 Atlantic Ten) after the Owls trailed the Hawks, 60-54 with 2 minutes, 43 seconds left in the game.
Morris, who finished with 20 points, went on a personal 8-0 run that gave Temple the lead and eventual win in similar fashion to the playing days of Staley, who had a storied career at the position, beginning her at Dobbins Tech, continuing on at the University of Virginia, and then as an All-Star in the former American Basketball League and WNBA.
And let's not forget three Olympic gold medals for the USA Senior National Women's Team, of which she will be an assistant coach at the Beijing Games in China in August.
She retired from the WNBA after the Houston Comets were eliminated in the 2006 playoffs.
Staley’s record in eight seasons with the Owls is now 167-78, including five Big Five titles, four conference crowns and five NCAA appearances.
On Sunday, a win over Duquesne enabled Staley to tie the previous mark by former coach Linda MacDonald, who was 166-130 in 10 seasons through 1990.
The triumph completed a two-game sweep by narrow scores over the Hawks (14-12, 6-5) in the regular season and kept the Owls in a three-way deadlock with George Washington and Xavier on top of the Atlantic Ten.
Temple edged St. Joseph's, 70-67, on Jan. 30 at the Liacouras Center in the final minute on the way to an unprecedented fourth straight 4-0 sweep of the Big Five.
“I think they should start these games with one minute to go and save everyone the drama,” Staley quipped. “It was another typical game down to the wire.
“The last time they rallied and almost beat us. This time, we were behind and had to find a way to win the game.”
Until she finally blossomed this season, Morris spent most of the past three years finding it difficult to please Staley until the light clicked on when she led Temple to a win over Nebraska in a first-round NCAA game in Raleigh, N.C., in March.
Her latest heroics came on a night when La Salle senior Carlene Hightower, who is a leading contender for local player honors with Morris and Villanova's Laura Kurz, scored a career-high 32 points in the Explorers' win at Rhode Island.
Morris also got the job done in a venue she starred leading Central to Public League titles.
“She was made for these games,” Staley said. “I think she reverted to the times she played at St. Joseph’s for Central. She just willed us to win the game.”
The Hawks will also be the hosts in a few weeks for this season's Atlantic Ten tournament.
Morris' jumper brought the Owls within four at 60-56 with 2:33 to play.
St. Joseph's senior Timisha Gomez, who tied a career high with 21 points, missed a jumper and then Morris responded with a three-pointer to bring Temple to within a point at 60-59 with 1:41 left.
The Hawks, who have now lost 12 of their last 13 in the series with the Owls, most of which have gone to the wire, commited a turnover. Morris then nailed another trey with 1:18 left for a 62-60 lead.
Gomez missed a shot with 57 seconds left, and Temple's Shenita Landry got the rebound.
But then Morris committed a turnover with 33 seconds remaining.
Senior Lady Comfort, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds blocked another attempt by Gomez.with 19 seconds to go. St. Joseph's got the rebound but with the clock running down, freshman Sarah Acker launched an errant trey attempt and Temple got the rebound with five seconds left.
Comfort was fouled. She missed her first attempt at the line, but made the second to wrap up all the scoring on the night.
Junior transfer Shanea Cotton added 16 points to Temple’s total, while LaKeisha Eaddy scored 15 points.
Acker, the Atlantic Ten co-rookie of the week, was held to two points, while Brittany Ford and Ashley Logue scored 10 points each for the Hawks.
All three league leaders will be in town this weekend. St. Joseph's will host George Washington, Sunday at noon, while Xavier will be at La Salle, Saturday, at 1 p.m. The Explorers are fighting for one of the final playoff berths in the conference tournament.
Temple will host Fordham at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Rams lost to Xavier Wednesday night and at 0-26 are losses from tying the NCAA record for futility with three games left.
Also, as Staley gained one record, she's about to lose another at Virginia, where Sharnee Zoll is 16 assists awat from topping Staley's mark in the early 1990s with the Cavaliers.
Here's a recap of highlight wins under Staley, although a few potholes in terms of setbacks are also tossed into the narraitve for historical purposes.:
Nov. 17, 2000 Temple 89, Lehigh 55 -- First Game, First Win, First Home Win.
Nov. 27, 2000 Temple 74, (a) Rider 65 - First Road Win.
Dec. 9, 2000 Temple 80, Penn 64 - First Big Five Win
Jan. 5, 2001 Temple 84, (a) St.Bonaventure 64 - First Atlantic 10 Game, First A-10 Win
Jan. 9, 2001 Temple 69, Geo. Washington 62 - First A-10 Win Over Perennial A-10 Leader.
Mar, 3, 2001 Temple 76, La Salle 69 - First A-10 Tourn. Game, First A-10 Tourn. win.
Feb. 24, 2002 Temple 71, La Salle 61 - First Big Five title
Mar. 4, 2002 Temple 63, St. Joseph's 58 - First Atlantic Ten title (at Liacouras Center)
Mar. 16. 2002 (a) Iowa St. 72, Temple 57 - First NCAA game (a loss).
Nov. 29, 2002 Kansas St. 72, Temple 65 -- Loss to No. 2 Jayhawks in Stanford's tourney.
Dec. 28, 2003 (a) Virginia 72, Temple 71 - Loses to alma mater in first trip to Charlotteville.
Mar. 8, 2004 Temple 53, (a) St. Joseph's 48 - Second Atlantic Ten title.
Nov. 28, 2004 (a) Tennessee 52, Temple 48 - Narrow loss to No. 1 Vols in Knoxville.
Dec. 13, 2004 Temple 71, # 22 Rutgers 60 -- First win over AP-ranked team.
Jan. 23, 2005 Temple 82, (a) ESPN-#25 Richmond 62 - Owls' First AP Ranking Next Day.
Jan. 27, 2005 Temple 72, Geo. Wash. 64 - Key win on way to perfect A-10 regular season.
Feb. 27, 2005 Temple 69, (a) St. Joe. 46 - Second Big Five title.
Mar. 7, 2005 Temple 70, (a) Geo.Wash 62 - A-10 tournament win.
Mar. 20, 2005 Temple 66, La. Tech 61 - First-round and first NCAA win at Storrs, Ct. Owls' 25th straight overall.
Dec. 19, 2005 Temple 69, #17 Georgia 66, ovt. - First outside-area win over AP ranked team.
Jan. 19,. 2006 Temple 48, (a) #9 Rutgers 47 - Win Over Hightest Ranked Opponent.
Feb. 17, 2006 Temple 59, St. Joseph's 53 - Second straight Big Five title and third overall.
Mar. 6, 2006 Temple 59, Geo. Wash. 54 - A-10 tournament win at St. Joseph's.
Feb. 12, 2007 Temple 68, La Salle 55 - Third straight Big Five title and fourth overall.
Mar. 18, 2007 Temple 64, Nebraska 61 - NCAA first-round win at Raleigh, N.C.
Jan. 19, 2008 Temple 68, #13 Geo. Wash 66 - Key A-10 win over nationally-ranked rival.
Feb. 2, 2008 Temple 60, La Salle 55 -- 4th st. Big Five title and City Series streak at 18.
Feb. 20, 2008 Temple 63, (a) St. Joseph's 60 -- Staley becomes winningest coach at 167.
--Mel
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