PHILADELPHIA (Interstat) — Shayla Smith scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Kaylah Turner added 19 points as Temple pulled away from Navy for a 97-77 women’s NCAA Division I basketball victory on Saturday at Liacouras Center. Taliyah Logwood scored 15 points for the Owls, Ariana Meriedy had 12 points and three rebounds, Saniyah Craig added nine points and five rebounds, and Tristen Taylor finished with four points, six rebounds and five assists. Temple improved to 1-1. Navy fell to 1-1. Attendance was 1,272.

Zanai Barnett-Gay led the Midshipmen with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Zoe Mesuch also scored 18 points and added one rebound and one assist. Quinn Boettinger had eight points, seven rebounds, one assist and two blocks, and Grace Minihane chipped in four points, seven rebounds and three assists. Navy shot 27 of 60 from the floor, 7 of 17 from three-point range and 16 of 20 from the free throw line. Temple shot 38 of 76 overall, 4 of 18 from beyond the arc and 17 of 24 at the line. The Owls finished with 17 assists and two blocks, while the Midshipmen had nine assists and three blocks. Both teams collected 12 offensive rebounds.

Temple controlled the paint and the turnover battle. The Owls scored 60 points in the paint to Navy’s 38, committed 15 turnovers to Navy’s 33 and converted those mistakes into 43 points off turnovers. Navy scored 17 points off Temple turnovers. Both teams had 90 possessions; Navy posted an offensive rating of 85.1, and Temple finished at 107.3. Temple shot 50 percent from the floor, while Navy shot 45 percent. Navy shot 41.2 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line, while Temple shot 22.2 percent from beyond the arc and 70.8 percent from the line.

Navy started with energy and held a 6-5 lead after Lizzie Holder made a layup and a tip-in and Zoe Mesuch added a driving layup. Temple answered with a run that changed the pace of the first quarter. Shayla Smith made a pair of layups, Taliyah Logwood hit a 3-pointer and converted a layup, and Kaylah Turner added two layups as the Owls moved in front. Smith closed the first quarter with a layup and a free throw, and Ariana Meriedy added a layup. Navy’s Mary Gibbons scored a driving layup late in the period, but Temple carried a 29-19 lead into the second quarter.

The Owls kept the pressure on in the second quarter. Zanai Barnett-Gay opened the scoring with a layup for Navy, but Temple answered with Ariana Meriedy’s turnaround jumper and 3-pointer. Quinn Boettinger hit a 3-pointer for Navy, and Mesuch made a layup and a 3-pointer to keep the Midshipmen within range. Temple then closed the half with a surge. Kaylah Turner made a 3-pointer, a pullup jumper and a layup, Tristen Taylor added a pullup jumper and a floating jump shot, and Myla Benton scored on a layup and a driving layup. Meriedy also made a hook shot and a layup. Temple took a 53-34 lead into halftime.

The decisive stretch came early in the third quarter. After Navy’s Lizzie Holder scored a layup, Temple scored 17 of the next 19 points over a span of about four minutes. Taliyah Logwood hit a 3-pointer, Shayla Smith made two layups, Saniyah Craig scored twice inside, and Kaylah Turner added a layup. When Turner scored again with 5:07 left in the period, Temple had turned the game into a 70-38 lead. Navy answered with a 16-6 spurt later in the quarter, getting baskets from Mesuch, Grace Minihane, Kelsey Rhyne and Quinn Boettinger, but Temple still led 76-54 going into the fourth. Mesuch made back-to-back layups, Minihane scored on a driving layup, Rhyne made a layup and two free throws, and Boettinger added a layup and a late basket as Navy tried to stay within reach.

Smith, a guard from Philadelphia, set the tone for Temple with 21 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. Turner added 19 points, two rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes, and Logwood contributed 15 points, two rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes. Meriedy gave the Owls a strong interior presence with 12 points, three rebounds, one assist and one block in 16 minutes. Craig added nine points, five rebounds and two assists, and Taylor had four points, six rebounds and five assists. Smith had seven points and six rebounds in Temple’s previous game.

Barnett-Gay paced Navy with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes. Mesuch played 30 minutes and finished with 18 points, one rebound and one assist. Boettinger added eight points, seven rebounds, one assist and two blocks, while Minihane had four points, seven rebounds and three assists. Navy’s Lizzie Holder made several early baskets inside, and Sidney Quinn hit a fourth-quarter 3-pointer and two free throws as the Midshipmen kept competing to the final buzzer.

Temple led by as many as 32 points in the third quarter and took a 92-61 lead with 6:05 remaining in the fourth. Navy closed the game on a 16-5 run, getting a layup from Mary Gibbons, a 3-pointer from Barnett-Gay, a jumper from Julianna Almeida, a 3-pointer from Sidney Quinn and late free throws from Nia Henley and Kaitlyn Raagas. Sidney Quinn made a 3-pointer with 2:33 left, two free throws at 1:39 and Kaitlyn Raagas added two free throws at 1:24 before Nia Henley made a free throw with 18.1 seconds remaining. The late surge trimmed the final margin but did not change the outcome. Temple’s lead remained comfortable throughout the final minutes.

The Owls’ win came after a season-opening loss at George Mason, while Navy had opened its season with a road win at Mount Saint Mary’s. Temple will next host George Washington, and Navy will next visit James Madison. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Navy 68, Temple 64. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Temple with a 72.8 percent probability to win.