(Guru's note: This is an enhanced version of print coverage with quotes and added info, including the A-10 pairings, which arrived late Saturday night)
By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA - That hefty diet of nationally-ranked opponents Temple coach Dawn Staley fed her players in the front part of the season has paid off handsomely with the arrival of March Madness.
The Owls beat Massachusetts , 64-46, at the Liacouras Center Saturday afternoon to finish in a tie for first with No. 15 George Washington in the Atlantic Ten.
Temple, however, will begin conference quarterfinals play Saturday at St. Joseph’s as the top seed because of a 68-66 win over the Colonials here on Jan. 19.
The Owls (19-11, 12-2 Atlantic Ten) had struggled in narrow losses to such nonconference powers as Duke, Stanford, Georgia and blowouts by Rutgers and Maryland.
But once they hit the A-10 schedule, they shook off an opening setback at Dayton to win 12 of 13 games the rest of the way.
The Owls also carried a chip on their shoulders because of a preseason conference ranking of fourth, the lowest forecast in several years.
``It feels great,” Staley said, “because no one in the A-10 or anybody else really gave us a shot at where we are today. I’m very proud of our team for fighting through a tough season.
“The only way you are going to get better throughout the course of a season is you have to measure yourself. We took our hits, but we learned from it, people grew up, and everybody got better and improved. This is how you want your season to end – better than people expected and certainly heading into the tournament, I think we’re playing good basketball.”
Temple is playing well enough that it’s chances have improved considerably of making it five straight seasons of NCAA tournament participation.
"I would hope so," Staley said. "If they (the NCAA committee) would look at what we've done over the past 13 games, I think we've done exactly what the committee wants -- we won basketball games. We haven't lost a whole lot of games coming down the stretch of the season. I hope they're kind to us. I hope they remember us from years past and know we always put on a good show once we get to the tournament."
George Washington (24-5, 12--2) secured its share of first-place conference honors and the No. 2 seed Saturday in Washington by beating Fordham, 66-27, as the losing Rams became the first NCAA team to finish winless at 0-29.
St. Joseph’s (16-13, 8-6), meanwhile, drew the sixth seed by beating Rhode Island, 72-60, at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The Hawks will play a first-round game Friday night at 6 p.m. against Saint Louis (10-19, 5-9), the 11th seed.
La Salle (12-17, 4-10) took the floor at Duquesne (15-14, 6-8) Saturday night in Pittsburgh with the knowledge that a win would put the Explorers in a five-way for ninth and land them a ninth seed.
Instead they'll be in the stands as a result of a shutdown on offense that enabled the Dukes to romp to a 62-35 victory and return to the A-[10 tournament for the first time in two seasons.
La Salle senior Carlene Hightower finished her collegiate career with 12 points.
It's appropriate that Duquesne, as the ninth seed, will open the tourney at noon Friday against No. 8 Richmond (13-16, 6-8) because it will be Dukes coach Suzie McConnell-Serio's first conference action since she was a senior all-American at Penn State in 1988 on the way to an Olympic gold medal. Her alma mater jumped to the Big Ten several years later.
A former WNBA All-Star as well as coach of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, McConnell-Serio took the Duquesne coaching job last spring in her native Pittsburgh and has improved the Dukes from a record of 7-20 last season.
Temple celebrated senior day by honoring Ashley Morris, a former Central High star who blossomed her final year; Lady Comfort, Candice Borrows, and Nicole Pittman.
The quartet will be remembered, for now, as the only four to win all 16 games of their Big Five careers since the round robin began in 1979-80.
Staley praised Morris: “I don’t know who the player of the year is in this league but my vote goes to Ashley, by far. You take her off our team and and we’re nowhere near the top.”
Morris and George Washington's Kimberly Beck are considered the top two candidates, while La Salle's Hightower is likely to land on the all-conference first team.
Temple's LaKeisha Eaddy scored 16 points against Massachusetts (13-16, 5-9), which as the 12th seed will return to town Friday to open against fifth-seeded Dayton (23-7, 9-5). Comfort had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Shanea Cotton had 12 points, and Shaqwedia Wallace scored 10. Morris scored eight and dealt 11 assists.
Comfort has been a mainstay since her arrival from Florida as a freshman. Morris, however, spent the previous three seasons eclipsed, in part because of veteran point guards in front of her and in part because of a demanding coach who became a prolific player at the position throughout her own career.
As much as Temple has surprised with its finish, Morris was an equal delight, carrying the Owls through difficult times and staying consistent most of the way in elevating her game this season.
"When we closed the season last year, I left last year behind me," said Morris, who blossomed in Temple's first-round NCAA win over Nebraska in Raleigh, N.C. "I just wanted to be a different person, a different role player. I wanted to be much more significant so whatever I did two-three years ago, I just left that behind me."
Morris spoke of the team's reaction in the fall when the preseason conference poll was announced.
"We didn't like it, but it kind of was expected," Morris said. "We didn't have an all-American (Kamesha Hairston) on our team, or anything like that. We just had a group of girls that wanted to win and I think that helped us get through. Being the underdog kind of helped, too, because we wanted to win and we knew we were capable of doing it."
Staley echoed her sentiments. "With this particular team, when you lose the (A-10, Big Five) player of the year, people think you have a huge drop off. But when you lose that type of player, they leave something here. They leave a winning attitude. They leave players real confident in coming back and doing the things we've done."
Meanwhile, over on Hawk Hill, St. Joseph's paid tribute to seniors Timisha Gomez, Krista Hutchinson, Amy Wold, and managers Kim Hartzell and Liz Ryan before beating the Rams (11-18, 5-9), which as the 10th seed, will open Friday against No. 7 St. Bonaventure (18-11, 6-8).
Freshman Sarah Acker had 19 points and 10 rebounds for St. Joseph’s, while Gomez scored 14 points, and Ashley Logue had 13 points.
Temple, George Washington, Xavier (21-8, 11-3), and Charlotte (18--12, 9-5) all drew byes as the top four seeds.
The tournament draw at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse is as follows:
First Round - Friday:
No. 9 Duquesne vs. No. 8 Richmond, 12 p.m.
No. 5 Dayton vs. No. 12 Massachusetts, 2 p.m.
No. 10 Rhode Island vs. No. 7 St. Bonaventure, 4 p.m.
No. 11 St. Louis vs. No. 6 St. Joseph's, 6 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Saturday
No. 1 Temple vs. No. 9 Duquesne-No. 8 Richmond winner, 12 p.m.
No. 4 Charlotte vs. No. No. 5 Dayton-No. 12 Massachusetts winner, 2 p.m.
No. 2 George Washington vs. No. 10 Rhode Island-No. 7 St.Bonaventure winner, 4 p.m.
No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 6 St. Joseph's-No. 11 St. Louis winner, 6 p.m.
Semifinals - Sunday
Temple - bracket and Charlotte bracket survivors, 12 p.m. (CSTV)
George Washington - bracket and Xavier bracket survivors, 2:30 p.m. (CSTV)
Championship - Monday
Semifinal winners, 5 p.m. (ESPN2).
-- Mel
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