Temple Comeback Downs Orange, 74-67

Sunday, December 2

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

7-1

Temple

5-2

Syracuse

Temple

12/2/2012 4:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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PHILADELPHIA - Second-half runs of 12-0 and 16-3 erased a 14-point Syracuse lead and gave Temple (5-2) a 74-67 comeback victory over the rv/rv Orange (7-1) on Sunday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.

Temple shot 58.1 percent from the field in the second half, while the Orange, which shot 47.1 percent in the first half, shot 28.1 percent in the second period. Victoria Macauley scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Owls comeback. The Owls center also had a game-high 11 rebounds as Temple out-rebounded SU, 48-32, including 25-13 in the second half.

Syracuse was led by 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting by Philadelphia native Carmen Tyson-Thomas. Fellow seniors Kayla Alexander and Elashier Hall added 12 points each, while Rachel Coffey had her first-career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 10 assists. It is the most assists by a Syracuse player since Tasha Harris dished out 10 against St. Francis (PA) on Dec. 28, 2010 and the first double-double in points and assists for SU since Tracy Harbut (19 points, 12 assists) vs. Massachusetts on Dec. 10, 2005.

Alexander's 12 points give her 1,607 in her career, moving her past Julie McBride's (2001-04) 1,605 for third-most in Syracuse history.

Temple used a 16-3 run over a five-minute span midway through the second half to erase a 12-point Orange lead and give the Owls its first lead of the game, 55-54, capped off by a Tyonna Williams 3-pointer with 7:05 to go. The teams traded the lead four times over the next two and a half minutes before another Williams 3-pointer put the Owls on top for good, 62-60, with 4:41 to go.

A Brown 3-pointer with 1:33 to go gave Temple its biggest lead, 71-63, and the closest the Orange would draw from there was a Tyson-Thomas lay-up with 30.1 seconds remaining that made it a four-point game, 71-67.

After SU took a 14-point lead into halftime, Temple opened the second period with a 12-0 run over the first 3:25 to pull within two, 39-37, but the Orange responded with a 12-2 run of its own which included a pair of 3-pointers from nearby King of Prussia native Brianna Butler, putting the Orange back up 12, 51-39, with 12:36 left.

Syracuse closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 14-point lead into halftime, 39-25. Coffey and Tyson-Thomas led the way with nine each as the Orange shot 47.1 percent and held the Owls to 29 percent shooting. Temple's Rateska Brown led all scorers in the opening 20 minutes with 11 points.

Syracuse's pressure defense was effective in the first half as it scored 15 points off 12 Temple turnovers.

Syracuse returns home to kick off a five-game homestand on Tuesday when it hosts Wagner in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Carrier Dome.