Boxscore

STORRS, Connecticut ? Temple overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to down Louisiana Tech 66-61 in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Candice Dupree scored 20 points ? 16 coming in the second half ? and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Owls (28-3) to their 25th straight win.

Trailing 35-23 at the half and 42-30 with just under 16 minutes remaining in the game, Temple ended the game on a 36-19 run, thanks to hitting 3-of-3 three-pointers and 16-of-20 free throws in the final half.

?It was a tail of two halves,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. ?I thought we played exceptionally well on both ends of the court in the first half but then struggled in the second half.

?Officiating didn?t cost us this game but I thought they changed the way they called in the second half as opposed to the first. It?s funny. Temple pressed us for the entire second half and they were the ones who shot 20 free throws and we shot three. I think it took some of our aggressiveness away.?

With Tech trailing 64-61 with 36.7 seconds remaining, senior guard Erica Taylor got two good looks at potential game-tying three-pointers but was unable to bury either one as Dupree pulled down the defensive rebound and was fouled. Dupree, who hit 6-of-15 shots and 8-of-12 free throws, hit two free throws with 13.3 remaining to give Temple the win.

Temple came out in the second half of the game trailing by 12 but turned up its defensive pressure, forcing Louisiana Tech (20-10) into 13 second half turnovers, many leading to fast break lay-ups.

Tech jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game and quickly pushed it out to 18-6 at the midway mark of the opening half. After the Owls closed the gap to 24-18, Tech finished the first half on an 11-5 run to enter the halftime locker room leading by 12.

Lady Techster junior guard Tasha Crain scored 15 of her game-high 28 points in the first half. Crain, the 2005 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, hit 12-of-16 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws in 39 minutes of action while adding four rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Taylor added 13 points, three rebounds and three steals in her final contest for Louisiana Tech.

The Owls won despite not connecting on a field goal in the final 5:22 of the game.