The Tem-Cats jumped out to an early 14-point lead, then fell behind by halftime before rallying to take control in the second half to record a season-opening 52-45 victory over Brenham on Tuesday night, giving Sanders her first-ever head coaching victory.
“We got the ‘W,’” said a relieved and tired Sanders (formerly Woodson), who was a 1994 Temple graduate and a standout guard for the Tem-Cats, helping them become one of the state’s most successful programs in the 1990s.
“They did some good things. We were up by 14 and got a little lackadaisical.”
Temple was playing without senior center Jordan Pickett, who rolled her ankle in a scrimmage and junior forward Terris Goodwin, who suffered a concussion in a scrimmage against Pflugerville last week.
Also, senior point guard Ferniqua Johnson played sparingly because of a sprained ankle.
Without the help of three key players, several newcomers stepped in to fill the void.
“My freshman point guard (Loryn Goodwin) did a lot of things well,” Sanders said. “In Ferniqua’s absence, she stepped up her performance and played well.”
Despite scoring two points and shooting 0-for-7 from the field, the 5-6 Goodwin dictated the pace of the game early and in the second half, allowing the Tem-Cats to recover from a disastrous second quarter.
Temple raced out to a 20-6 first-quarter lead behind eight points from 5-10 junior Maya Williams, three assists from Goodwin and a Tem-Cats defense that forced 11 of Brenham’s 39 turnovers in the opening 8 minutes.
Then Temple went cold, making only three of 10 shots and committing 13 turnovers as the Cubettes outscored the Tem-Cats 26-8 in the second quarter for a 32-28 halftime lead.
“I think we got a little bit too comfortable,” said senior Shantae Hewins, who scored a game-high 13 points. “At halftime we had to regroup and were like, ‘OK, they’re not just going to roll over and die for us,’ so we had to keep the intensity up.”
After allowing a free throw to fall behind 33-28, Temple went on a 14-3 run, getting two baskets each from Hewins and Destiny Bell and one each from Jourdan Truesdale, Amanda Sullivan and Alisha Mosley to take a 42-36 lead.
The defense forced 11 turnovers and held Brenham to 1-for-10 shooting in the quarter.
The Cubettes pulled to within three midway through the fourth, but Temple got a putback score by Hewins and two baskets by Mosley. Goodwin, who played under control, then hit two free throws with 1:17 left to put the game out of reach for the season-opening win.
“With Loryn being a freshman and being up against older people, she knows she has to push herself more,” Hewins said. “She handled the pressure well for a freshman coming up on varsity and starting.”
Mosley’s three second-half field goals and outstanding defense helped turn around the momentum.
“Alisha’s fourth-quarter play was tremendous,” Sanders said. “That defense is what I’m talking about. If I got all the ladies playing defense like that, there is no telling what we can do. That’s what we’ve been stressing from Day 1.”
Also playing a key role was the 5-7 Truesdale, who was forced into early action and a different position when Williams got in early foul trouble.
“Jourdan came in and did a good job at the four (position) and got some rebounds for us,” Sanders said.
Williams scored 10 points and Bell had nine.
Temple showed plenty of rust, shooting 21-for-59 (36 percent) from the field and 8-for-20 from the free-throw line and committing 34 turnovers.
But the Tem-Cats’ constant pressure defense - which held the Cubettes to 4-for-24 shooting in the second half - will determine how much success they have this season, according to Hewins.
“We’d be unstoppable,” she said. “With our speed, once we get it down in practice, there is no stopping us.”
Temple will host El Paso Americas at 7 p.m. Thursday at Wildcat Gym in the first round of the three-day Dr Pepper Chisholm Trail Classic.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
