By: Cole Nowak
PHILADELPHIA – Winning a Philadelphia Big 5 game on the road is never easy. With a little over three minutes to play in the first half, the Temple Owls held a 25-24 lead over visiting Saint Joseph’s, but the Hawks found their momentum from graduate student Katie Jekot and rallied to maintain a stable second half lead, winning the game 73-63.
Jekot finished the game with a career high 25 points (6-of-16 overall), also adding six rebounds, six steals and five assists. She was accompanied by freshman guard Mackenzie Smith, who scored 12 points and tallied three assists in the Hawks victory.
Jekot was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after her performance against Temple and in the Hawk’s win over Penn earlier in the week. In those contests she averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.0 steals.
Temple was led on the floor by freshman guard Jasha Clinton who had 24 points, five assists and four steals. Owl’s graduate student Mia Davis contributed 18 points and led the team with nine rebounds.
Reporter Package by Cole Nowak feat. post game interviews with Owl's head coach Tonya Cardoza and freshman guard Jasha Clinton:
Looking ahead: Temple (5-4) aims to get a road victory of their own, as the team heads to play Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m. SJU (4-6) will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Dec. 21.