Penn junior Jerin Smith’s career-high 16 points outscored all her teammates combined as the Penn women’s basketball team fell 55-31 Saturday afternoon at Temple.
The Quakers (1-14, 0-4 Big 5) were ultimately doomed by poor shooting, finishing 12-for-48 from the field and 0-for-13 from beyond the arc.
“I liked our execution, believe it or not,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “We played tough, though we really struggled to score. We got good shots again today, but hopefully we can get better in that area.”
Penn’s loss marked their fifth in a row since their sole victory this season, a 52-48 nail-biter over St. Francis (N.Y.) on New Year’s Eve.
Temple (14-5, 2-1) advanced to its fourth straight win and is looking to earn a ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
This game marked the Red and Blue’s last non-conference game this season, as their final 13 contests will all be against Ivy League foes.
Their poor 1-14 start to the season is not an unheralded one — last year the team started with a 3-15 record before winning six of their last ten.
The Owls had all players except senior Kristie Watkins-Day make at least one basket, and had three reach double figures. Sophomore Kristen McCarthy led Temple with 13 points, junior Marli Bennett had a team-high seven rebounds, and sophomore BJ Williams led in assists, with ten.
“Defensively, and in terms of the pace of the game, I think we had things in our control,” McLaughlin said.
“To hold [Temple] to 55 points is a great accomplishment,” he added. “If we had made four or five more [baskets] on the offensive end, we could’ve put a bit of pressure on them.”
Despite the lack of offensive production, the Quakers stayed with the Owls on the boards. Smith led the way with six of the team’s 33 total rebounds — only six short of Temple’s 39.
“I think we played very intensely,” Smith commented. “We had our moments where we broke down, but overall I think we gave [Temple] a good little run. We’re running our plays pretty well, but our shot attempts just haven’t been enough — only good, not great.”
Penn continued a trend of erratic shooting that has plagued them all season. They’ve made only 29.8 percent (241-of-810) of their shots this year, while allowing their opponents to make 40.5 percent (335-of-827) of their shots.
Part of the reason could be its inability to distribute the ball effectively. Against Temple, Penn had only four assists, a figure that paled in comparison to the Owl’s 18.
“That’s where we’ll have to improve — the offensive end.” McLaughlin noted.
Penn will look to make noise off the court Monday night at the men’s basketball game against St. Joseph’s. In a shared effort with the men’s team, the Quakers will be collecting shoes at the Palestra for Penn’s Hoops for Haiti initiative.
Fans are encouraged to bring an old pair of shoes to the game to be donated to those in need in Haiti.
