No. 23 Temple 59, Saint Joseph's 53

2/17/2006 10:35 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Candice Dupree scored 20 points and tied a career high with 17 rebounds to lead No. 23 Temple to a 59-53 victory over Saint Joseph's on Friday.

Lady Comfort added 12 points for the Owls (19-6, 10-3 Atlantic 10), who have won five of six and moved into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic 10. Hillary Klimowicza led Saint Joseph's (16-8, 8-5) with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Timisha Gomez and Jen Oyler added 11 points each.

Dupree scored five straight points during a decisive 16-1 Owl run in the second half. She hit a short jumper to tie the game 40-40 before converting a three-point play on a layup and free throw to give Temple the lead for good with 8:47 left. Comfort capped the run with two free throws at 5:05 to give the Owls their biggest lead, 53-41.

Temple's victory also clinched the Philadelphia Big 5 title and avenged an earlier 65-64 loss to Saint Joseph's in January. Dupree, honored in a pregame ceremony as Atlantic 10 player of the week, also added four blocked shots.

Temple led 32-22 with 16:34 remaining, but Oyler made three straight 3-point shots to spark a 13-0 run that gave Saint Joseph's a 35-32 lead with 12:25 left.

Whitney Ffrench scored seven points as the Hawks built a 17-14 advantage with 6:04 left in the first half, but Saint Joseph's did not score again in the half. Temple closed with 11 straight points to take a 25-17 lead.

Both teams shot poorly in the first half. The Owls made 11-of-31 shots for 35.5 percent, while the Hawks shot a dismal 7-of-29 for 24.1 percent. The Owls also took advantage of 13 turnovers to score 20 points.