Temple shuts down Coppin State, 59-39
Behind 12 points apiece from Kelian Cedano and Drew Alexander and a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds from forward Jaleesa Molina, Temple turned aside Coppin State 59-39 Friday night at the Liacouras Center.
Cedano’s 12 points came off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting in 27 minutes. Alexander, who also shot 4-for-7 from the floor, attempted all of her shots from three-point range in her third game in the starting lineup. Kaylah Turner chipped in 11 points and forward Saniyah Craig grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points.
Temple improved to 6-5 ahead of Monday’s 11:30 a.m. road game at No. 25 Princeton, but it’s clear the Owls needTristen Taylor back in the lineup. Taylor, Temple’s starting point guard, sprained her ankle in the Owls’ Nov. 30 win over Western Carolina, and her team’s ball handling and decision making has taken a hit without her in the lineup. Temple beat a 2-11 Coppin State team despite committing 28 turnovers.
In the Owls’ previous win six days ago, a 25-point blowout of VCU, they coughed up 27 turnovers.
“We’ve just got to take care of the ball,” Molina told reporters after the game Friday night. “It’s like messy turnovers. It’s not really that we’re giving them the ball. We’re just turning it over ourselves.”
Temple shot 38.6% (22-of-57) overall and just 28.6% (6-for-21) from three but shut down Coppin State by holding it to 23.7% (14-for-59) shooting. The Eagles missed all 17 of their three-point attempts.
“We played well defensively,” Temple head coach Diane Richardson said, “but we weren’t patient offensively. We didn’t execute. This is a team that kind of pushes defensively and I think we kind of rushed some things. We should have purposely executed our offense to get us better shots, and I thought we took some quick shots.
“Again, earlier in the season, I talked about us starting slow. And the reason why we start slow is because we don’t execute and we take quick shots, and those quick shots are not good shots because they don’t fall early. So we’ve got to be more cognizant about that and make sure we’re executing and running our plays.”
Richardson said she hopes to have Taylor back for Monday’s game at Princeton. The Owls could certainly use the junior’s 10.1 points and team-high 4.6 assists per game. Temple has averaged 24.3 turnovers in the three games she has missed. Taylor has turned the ball over 18 times in the eight games she has played this season.
“She’s been working and she’s been on the court,” Richardson said, “so that’s a good sign.”
