With 30 seconds left in Temple’s season opener against Richmond, the Owls had the ball and were down by three looking for the tying shot. An all-out scramble ensued, as guards Tiarra East and Tristen Taylor both shot threes but they clanked off the iron to dim Temple’s chances.
However, forwards Amaya Oliver and Anissa Rivera grabbed game-saving offensive rebounds on both attempts to keep overtime in reach. After Rivera’s rebound, guard Tarioynna Gary had an open look from three to tie the game. Instead, she dished it to Taylor, whose heel was out of bounds for a detrimental turnover.
The giveaway spoiled Temple’s comeback efforts and Richmond hit both free throws at the end of the game to extend its lead to five. Richmond ended the game outscoring Temple by eight to hand the Owls an opening night loss.
Temple (0-1, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) fell to Richmond (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) 79-72 Monday night at The Liacouras Center. The Owls were down by as much as 17 in the second quarter and the early deficit was too much for them to claw their way back.
“It’s encouraging to know we can play because in that second half, we played Temple basketball,” said head coach Diane Richardson. “In the first half, I don’t know if it was first game jitters, but we weren’t as aggressive.”
Temple was lackluster to start the first quarter, finding itself down 6-0 within the first minute. The Owls responded quickly, going on an 11-0 run to grab the lead. Temple’s offensive strategy was clear, attempting 13 three-point shots in the first quarter and sinking three.
Temple was unable to score in the final two minutes of the first quarter which allowed for Richmond to go into the second quarter up by five. The Spiders continued their momentum into the second quarter to sprint past the Owls.
Temple got blitzed the second the horn blew with Richmond scoring nine of the first 10 second-quarter points to balloon its lead to 13. The Owls had no response, falling further into despair with no answer to their opponent’s barrage. Richmond went on a 14-5 run through nearly six minutes of the second quarter to make it a 39-22 lead in a flash.
Most of Temple’s miscues came from inside the paint, showing the hole it has after losing its two frontcourt starters from last season. The Spiders racked up 24 points in the paint in the first half and guard Katie Hill had her way with nine first-half points. East attempted to bring Temple back by scoring five of the Owls’ 12 second-quarter points but her efforts weren’t enough. Temple finished the half with three straight misses, going into the break down 43-29.
“We play hard and we’re aggressive defensively, but we had some miscommunication today,” Richardson said. “Talking has got to be the key. We have got to talk and talk loud and talk often.”
Temple began to chip away at Richmond’s lead in the third quarter thanks to a kickstart in its defensive play. Temple forced ten Spider turnovers, more than they had in the entirety of the first half. Aiding the defense with an offensive push, the tandem of East and Gary had 12 combined third-quarter points.
Temple finished the third quarter scoring the last six points, but still found themselves entering the fourth quarter down 58-50.
The Owls jumped out to a hot start in the fourth quarter, cutting Richmond’s lead in half within the first two minutes. Back-to-back buckets from Oliver cut the Spiders’ lead to just one and a three-pointer by East gave Temple the lead at 67-66, its first lead since the first quarter. East stepped up for the Owls in the second half, scoring 18 points on 6-11 shooting after only adding five to the scoreboard in the first half.
“It’s [East’s] time,” Richardson said. “She’s worked really hard this summer and she has that mentality that we are this close so you got to give more. She did that in the second half and kind of turned the ball game around for us.”
Richmond responded with a three of its own to take back the lead. The Owls’ offense went stagnant from there, missing their last five shots as the Spiders marched to victory. Richmond finished the quarter on an eight-point run to win 79-72.
Temple struggled against Richmond down low, getting outscored in the paint and outrebounded by 13. Temple had no answer for Spiders’ guard Rachel Ullstrom who finished with 32 points, six rebounds and missed just two shots the whole night.
The Owls scheduled a gauntlet of a non-conference slate that features six teams that made a postseason tournament last season. Richmond entered as the defending A-10 champions and was just the first test for a Temple team that has many more coming.
Temple will look to bounce back when they travel to face Delaware (0-1, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) on Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
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