PHILADELPHIA - Momentum was the story of the afternoon at the Liacouras Center, but it was Temple with the final run as the La Salle women's basketball team fell 75-72 in a heartbreaker in the season opener for both squads. The Explorers had a chance to force overtime, but a shot at the buzzer went just short.

Micahya Owens led all Explorers (0-1, 0-1 Big 5) with 18 points, and also posted four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Alicia Cropper put together an all-around effort with 16 points, seven rebounds, a game-high-tying six assists and one steal. Siobhan Beslow reached double figures with 10 points and pulled down a team-best eight boards.

Jasmine Alston dished out six assists to match Cropper for game-high honors, while grabbing a team-best four steals and chipping in three rebounds.

Two freshmen also made their collegiate debuts, as Amy Griffin netted nine points including six on two triples and Ashanti Freeland scored her first four collegiate points.

Feyonda Fitzgerald was lights out for the Owls (1-0, 1-0 Big 5), draining 29 points on 10-for-25 shooting and 4-for-7 from long range. Erica Covile added 17 points for the Owls, while Safiya Martin led all players with 11 rebounds.

The stat sheet does not do justice to the highs and lows for both teams throughout the contest, as both squads alternated between hot and cold on offense. La Salle finished the game with a 38.8 percent shooting clip (26-67), and the Owls finished at 37.3 percent (25-67). 

The Owls built a 38-27 lead with 3:32 before halftime and pushed their lead back to nine at 46-37 with 1:15 to go. The Explorers caught fire in the final minute of the first stanza, as a Freeland layup in the paint sparked a 7-0 Explorer run to close the half. Owens drained a three with 31 seconds left, and Beslow converted both free throws with two seconds on the clock to draw within 46-44 at the half.

Temple's Tanaya Atkinson drained a three to open the second half, and the Owls built a nine-point lead capped by a Fitzgerald fastbreak layup at 15:42. The Explorers hit their first bucket of the second half after the media timeout. Wells nailed the shot from under the basket to spark an 8-2 run and cut the deficit to one at 55-54 with 13:07 on the clock. 

Covile responded with a layup to put Temple up 57-54 until Cropper responded with a three-pointer to knot the game at 57. Tyonna Williams hit a jumper on the Owls' next possession but Owens came back up the court to nail a three-pointer to put the Explorers on top for the first time since the early seconds of the game.

After back-and-forth scoring, Fitzgerald missed back-to-back attempts to allow the Explorers to push their lead to five at 70-65 with 3:49 remaining. Cropper drained two free throws, and Beslow and Owens converted layups in that 5-0 spurt.

Temple chipped away, with the Explorers clinging to a 72-71 lead with 1:46 to go but Fitzgerald scored the go-ahead basket with 34 seconds remaining. She added to the lead by making one of two free throws with 15 ticks left. She missed the second, and Atkinson picked up an offensive board and was promptly fouled. She made one of two to put the score at 75-72 with 13 seconds left and give the Explorers a shot to tie it. Griffin came up the court and attempted a three, which was swatted by Covile out of bounds with 1.8 seconds left. Cropper got the ball after the timeout for the last-second three-point attempt, but it went just short.

The Explorers return to action on Wednesday for the second straight Big 5 game, as they head to Penn for a 7pm tipoff.