Rutgers and coach C. Vivian Stringer were dealt a tough two-point loss to Temple Wednesday night.PHILADELPHIA — Offense has been in vogue early this season as the Rutgers women have lit up scoreboards with cool efficiency, routinely putting several players in double figures and scoring in the 70s and 80s.
Those days might be over just seven games into the season.
Scarlet Knights coach C. Vivian Stringer erupted Wednesday night after watching her team drop a 60-58 decision to Temple on a pair of free throws by Owls guard Shey Peddy with 2.3 seconds left to play.
The loss snapped the Knights' four-game winning streak.
Peddy cleared out the left side, drove to the basket and was fouled by Erica Wheeler.
The final play was indicative of a surprisingly lax Knights defense. Temple (3-4) was getting open looks on 3-pointers and driving to the basket all game. The Owls hit 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from 3-point range and repeatedly got big baskets when they needed to.
‘‘I’m really upset,’’ said Stringer. ‘‘You can play defense. If you can’t play nothing else, you can play defense. Defense is grunt work. You have to want to do it. You have to believe that is what causes you to win. This doesn’t make sense.
‘‘We get no offensive rebounds (actually four team offensive rebounds).. That’s a mind-blower. They were dropping 3’s like flies. We don’t get up. We don’t have a hand in their face. They do dribble penetration and we don’t see it. ... Are you kidding me?’’
The Knights (4-3) had scored 88, 71 and 65 points in their previous three games and won the Lady Rebel Round-Up Tournament in Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving weekend. They were feeling good about themselves coming into last night’s game, but Stringer wasn’t impressed.
''I thought this was the first real test we had since we came back from Stanford,'' said Stringer.
''The rest of the games weren't real games (victories over Princeton, North Carolina A&T, Pacific and Oregon State). Hopefully we learned some things but I'd like to learn and win.''
With the clock ticking down, Peddy saw guard Nikki Speed was playing off her and made her move.
‘‘I thought about shooting the 3 but she was playing far off and I wasn’t hitting my shot,’’ said Peddy. ‘‘She looked scared, like she was looking for help or something. I thought my best bet was to try to get by her and hit the layup or go to the free-throw line.’’
Temple led, 58-56, with a minute left to play when the Knights called a timeout. On the inbound play, Wheeler drove the lane for a twisting layup to tie the score with 45.7 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Knights forward Chelsey Lee stole the ball under the Owls' basket with 36.7 seconds on the clock. But on the other end, she missed a jump hook in the lane with 15.3 seconds left, setting up the finish.
‘‘It was a post-hit play but I should’ve been aware of the time on the clock,’’ said Lee, alluding to the fact there were seven seconds left on the shot clock. ‘‘I noticed the double team and I should’ve been looking for the open man.’’
Lee led Rutgers with a season-high 15 points. Forward April Sykes added 12 points and Khadijah Rushdan chipped in with 10.
Marli Bennett paced the Owls with 14 points and guards Qwedia Wallace and Kristen McCarthy added 13.
Peddy, who laid on the floor for several minutes after sustaining an injury in the second half, finished with nine points.
Dave Hutchinson: dhutchinson@starledger.com