S P O RT S
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016
PAGE 17
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Fitzgerald: ‘I want people to remember my name here’ 1,373 17 444
The guard is closing in on several Temple records during her final season.
career points
career assists
300
career freethrows
84.2% free throws made
points per game
By MAURA RAZANAUSKAS Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter
6.8
assists per game
5
rebounds per game
47.6% 3-point shots
37.5% field goals
CHRISTOPHER HOOKS FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald stops to take a shot in Owls’ 71-68 victory against Quinnipiac on Sunday.
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CHAMPIONSHIP cons belong to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest started the year 5-1 but lost five of its last six games to close out the season. All five losses came to bowl eligible teams, including Florida State University, the University of Louisville and Clemson University, all ranked in the College Football Playoff. The Demon Deacons will play in their first bowl game since the 2011 Music City Bowl. “We’re looking forward to the whole experience and it will be a very challenging game,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. “Temple’s had an outstanding year. Matt Rhule has just done a phenomenal job of rebuilding that program.” The Owls avenged their loss to Houston in last year’s conference title game with a 34-10 win against No. 19 Navy. Temple scored 24 first-half points and limited the second-ranked rushing offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision to 168 yards. Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo minced no words. “They beat the crap out of us. … It was like they hit us with an overhand right with their offense and we could not respond,” he said.
As the players, clad in their championship T-shirts and hats, celebrated on the field after the game with confetti raining from the sky, senior linebacker Jarred Alwan walked around smiling and hugging teammates. He wore a WWE championship belt with the Temple “T” on the sides as he paraded around the field. Redshirt-senior defensive back Nate Hairston said when the offense and defense compete in practice, the winner gets the belt. On Saturday, players passed the belt around after winning a conference title instead of a drill in practice. The seniors continued winning after enduring mediocre seasons early in their careers. They’ve won 20 games in the past two seasons, the best stretch in program history, and will be the first to play in back-to-back bowl games. “[What] we planned to do so many years ago finally happened and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” said redshirt-senior defensive lineman Haason Reddick, who had his first career interception on Saturday. “I just thought about everything that we went through and what it took to get to this point and understanding the work we put in, the relentlessness we had to have, the countless mornings we woke up early for practice or to do an extreme workout,” Reddick added. “Just to be here right now and I look back and think it was all worth it.”
Even though they were walking to the same room, senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald and senior center Safiya Martin split in different directions. Fitzgerald wanted to prove that her route to their room was faster than her teammate’s. As both athletes speed-walked to their room, Martin started to film Fitzgerald’s antics. “She was recording me, like, ‘Look at this competitive person, look how competitive she is, she’s really racing me to get to the room,’” Fitzgerald said. “But yeah, I won.” Ever since Fitzgerald started playing basketball at 5 years old, she has been competitive on the court and carries that personality trait with her off the court. So far, Fitzgerald has averaged 17 points per game, 3.4 points more than last season. The statistics alone don’t show Fitzgerald’s value when Temple is losing in the fourth quarter or needs a boost to gain momentum. “The one thing about her is she’s a fighter, she’s a competitor and she really wants to win, so she’s going to try to do everything in her power,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “When she’s on the court, she wants the ball in her hands, and that’s something that some people shy away from.” When the Owls played Quinnipiac University on Nov. 27, Temple barely pulled off a three-point victory, largely thanks to Fitzgerald and junior guard Alliya Butts’ performance as the clock winded down. In the final two minutes, Fitzgerald hit a jumper to give the Owls a one-point lead. One minute, 12 seconds later she assisted Butts’ 3-pointer to give Temple a three-point lead. Fitzgerald then drew a foul with 19 seconds left and made both free throws to secure a Temple win. “She has a huge role,” Cardoza said. “She’s one of our leaders, she’s someone that we depend on for a lot, to be the hardest worker, to be the best defender, to be that extension of the coaches, and she has to score too.” Fitzgerald started all 30 games and was the Owls’ top scorer as a freshman in the 2013-14 season. She has been a significant contributor ever since. Because of her talent and her experience, Fitzgerald is closing in on several Temple records. She ranks third in career assists. If she matches her 186 assists from last season, she’ll own the record with an 82-assist cushion. Fitzgerald currently has 444 career assists and needs to surpass 507 to hold the top spot.
Senior quarterback Phillip Walker completed 16-of-25 attempts for 199 yards and two touchdowns to win the game’s Most Outstanding Player Award. Alwan led the team with a season-high 13 tackles, stepping up after redshirtsenior linebacker Avery Williams got ejected for targeting in the second quarter. Senior running back Jahad Thomas ran for 62 yards and scored the Owls’ first touchdown of the day. As he talked to reporters after the game outside the south end of the stadium, his mother, Connie Thomas, stood nearby, wearing a customized jersey that let everybody know who her son is. She watched as her son and Walker replicated their high school careers, struggling in the beginning, but ending with a championship. “You think about all the moments, when we was 2-10 and 6-6 and not be able to go to a bowl game and them feelings of being in the locker room after losses,” Jahad Thomas said. “You don’t want to experience that again and to be in the situation that we were today, to be able to come back here again after losing last year, you know, the feeling is unbelievable.” evan.easterling@temple.edu
She also ranks sixth in total points with 1,373. If she continues to average 17 points per game in the remaining 23 games, she’ll pass Candice Dupree for second place all-time. As Fitzgerald continues playing this year, the records aren’t the first thing in her mind, but she does hope to etch her name into the history books. “I want people to remember my name here,” Fitzgerald said. “I want something to represent me, like, ‘Feyonda did this, or Feyonda was known for this.’ I want my name to remain alive here.” Fitzgerald’s shooting has been the most noticeable improvement in her career. She is shooting 47.6 percent from 3-point range through six games this season after shooting 26.8 percent last year. Her free throw percentage has improved to 84.2 percent and she is shooting 37.5 percent from the field after shooting 34.2 percent in 2015-16. “She’s definitely grown in a sense, I mean, she’s always worked hard from day one,” Cardoza said. “From her freshman year, she shot the ball a lot. She probably felt like she had to win it, and I think now, she’s confident that she can make the pass to Alliya [Butts], she can dump the ball down here to this guy, that she doesn’t have to be the guy to win the game.” When Fitzgerald came to Temple, the Owls had just come off a 14-18 season, and she was relied upon heavily. She led the team in field goal attempts, with 149 more shots than the next player. A lot of the time, she felt it was in her hands to take the final shot and either win or lose the game by herself. Now, that’s not so much the case. “There will be times where I could do something to open up a teammate and dish it to them because I’m confident that they will knock down the shot,” Fitzgerald said. “But before, when I first got here, I would rather take the shot myself. I mean, I would still rather take it now, but if I have to, I will pass it because I trust them to knock down the shot.” Fitzgerald hopes she can help the Owls qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011, when a streak of eight straight appearances ended. This goal stems not only from wanting the experience for herself and the team, but also because it could give her the exposure she needs from WNBA scouts. After college play finishes, Fitzgerald hopes to move on to play in the WNBA. She knows she will have the support of her family as she tries to go pro. “My dad’s been there, along with my grandmother, throughout all my years, from toddler to recreational basketball, to [Amateur Athletic Union], to high school and middle school, to college,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s the one who motivates me to be better, he wants me to be great.” maura.razanauskas@temple.edu @CaptainAMAURAca
GENEVA HEFFERNAN FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Coach Matt Rhule, Athletic Director Pat Kraft, and defensive coordinator Phil Snow hoist the American Athletic Conference Championship trophy Saturday.
temple bowl game history Jan. 1,
Sugar Bowl
1935
Garden State Bowl
Dec. 15,
EagleBank Bowl
1979
New Mexico Bowl
Dec. 29,
Boca Raton Bowl
2009
Military Bowl
@Evan_Easterling
sports@temple-news.com