Feb. 27, 2003
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Temple held St. Bonaventure to 36 percent shooting and outscored the Bonnies 39-22 in the second half in a 67-49 Atlantic 10 victory Thursday at the Reilly Center.
The Owls (12-14, 8-7 A-10) took a 28-27 lead at halftime but came out strong to begin the second half. Temple began the half with an 8-2 run, taking a 36-29 lead on Toni Belafonte's jumper at the 16:19 mark. They extended the lead with a 9-2 run to take a 45-33 lead with 12:26 to play.
The Bonnies (6-20, 3-12 A-10) cut into the lead with a 7-2 run of their own, and sophomore guard Caitlin Crist's jumper at the 8:07 mark trimmed the Owls' lead to 47-40. However, Temple ran off 14 straight points to open up a 63-42 lead with 2:14 left and put the game away. The Bonnies went nearly five minutes without a point.
"Temple's defense forced us to be passive with the ball," said head coach Jim Crowley. "We did a good job taking care of the ball for the first half but couldn't keep it up in the second. That's something we've been struggling with all season."
Temple hit 51 percent of its shots for the game, and connected on 15-27 shots in the second half.
"They did a great job knocking down open jump shots," Crowley said. "They passed the ball really well and found the open player for an easy shot."
Stacy Smalls led the Owls with 15 points, while three other players scored nine.
Senior guard Courtney Mattingly led the Bonnies with 10 points while junior guard Becky Valenti finished with nine.
The game was the final home contest for the Bonnies this season. They visit Saint Joseph's Sunday at 2 p.m. in the final A-10 game of the regular season.