In the wake of the 2013 Atlantic 10 in-conference season, which begun just days ago, the Inaugural Women’s Basketball Legends team has been announced, with Marilyn Stephens being recognized as Temple’s representative.
The A-10 has named 16 former players worthy of being honored for their contributions while playing for their respected A-10 basketball programs.
Stephens, currently the women’s basketball coach at Cheyney University, is Temple’s all-time leader in points (2,194), rebounds (1,519), blocked shots (342), blocks per game (2.9), field goals (919), and free throws (356). She was named Team Kodak All-American in 1984 and was the A-10 Player of the Year in both 1983 and 1984. As the team’s leader, Stephens led the Owls to a fifth-place finish in the WNIT in 1982, followed by a seventh-place finish in 1983. She was inducted in the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
The Women’s Basketball Legends will be honored on March 16 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Each institution selected its Legend, a group that represents ten U.S. states, one foreign country, six former All-Americans, and three former academic All-Americans.
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The announcement of the Legends honorees comes on the evening of Temple’s A-10 home opener against VCU, three days removed from the Owls win over conference rival St. Bonaventure. The Owls (7-8) will look to win three games in a row for the first time this season, a feat that may have seemed unimaginable less than two weeks ago when it was in the midst of a six-game losing skid.
VCU is 7-9 on the season and is coming off a loss to St. Louis in its first in-conference game of the season. Much like Temple, VCU has seen its fair share of ups and downs throughout the year. The Rams have not won back-to-back games since Dec. 8. Junior forward Robyn Parks has been solid all season, averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Jessica Pellechio has shown great promise as a rookie, averaging 13 points per game while playing the second most minutes on the team.
Temple is coming off two consecutive games in which they have forced more turnovers than committed, an issue that has plagued them until recently. In Sunday’s win over the Bonnies, senior center Victoria Macaulay recored her seventh double-double of the season, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Erica Covile and sophomore guard Tyonna Williams finished in double-figures with 11 points each.
The recent decline in turnovers can be much accredited to Williams, the team’s starting point guard, who has zero turnovers compared to 16 assists the last two games. Williams, who coach Tonya Cardoza recognizes as competitive and hard working, has shown significant progress as of late as a two-guard turned point guard.
Temple and VCU will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.
Tyler Sablich can be reached at tyler.sablich@temple.edu or on Twitter @TySablich.
