Temple has had to deal with the shooting of the Houston Rockets' Carl Landry, the brother of Owls senior forward Shenita Landry. Carl Landry suffered a gunshot wound to his lower leg and he is expected to miss up to 3 weeks. Shenita Landry has practiced this week and will play on Sunday. Cardoza did not want to comment on Landry because it is "a personal family matter."
Temple's game plan will try to solve the combination of Gators senior point guard Sha Brooks and senior forward Marshae Dotson, the only Florida players who score in double figures.
Brooks averages 16.6 points per game, while Dotson chips in with 13.7 and a team-high seven rebounds per game.
"They rely heavily on a couple players, mostly Brooks and Dotson," Cardoza said. "Dotson is a little undersized [5-11], but she's athletic and can obviously score. They remind me a little of Saint Louis, in that you've got to get the ball out of their best players' hands and make the rest of the team beat you."
The Owls defeated Saint Louis, 76-56, back on Feb. 8 and held the Billikens' and Atlantic 10 Conference's leading scorer, junior guard Theresa Lisch, to 15 points, four points below her season average.
In last season's meeting with Florida at the Liacouras Center, the Owls' defense came up short in that regard, allowing Brooks and Dotson to score 39 points combined.
Temple's inside tandem of senior forwards Shanea Cotton and Landry, who Cardoza sees as a distinct advantage this go-round, contributed only eight points and nine rebounds in that loss.
"I would think we would have a height advantage inside," Cardoza said. "They don't start anybody over 6 feet tall, so we should be able to get the ball inside. But, like them, we have multiple guys we can go to. The key, though, is that we have to shut them down defensively."
The Owls will also have one other major advantage on their side.
