FORT WORTH, TX — Temple Women’s Basketball traveled to Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, for the American Athletic Conference tournament as the third seed and a co-regular season champion. By the time the Owls took the court against Tulane on Monday, they were the highest seed remaining and looking to avoid a similar upset.
Temple was dead even with the Green Wave with just 15 seconds remaining in the regulation. Temple guard Tiarra East drove to the rim, got fouled and hit two foul shots. East was then called for a foul on Tulane’s ensuing possession, and guard Kyren Whittington knocked down two free throws of her own to tie the game.
Temple had a chance to win in both regulation and the first overtime, but guard Aleah Nelson missed two chances while guard Demi Washington missed one. The Owls then locked down the Green Wave in the second to force a third overtime period, the AAC’s first in tournament history.
Once the third overtime began, Temple took the lead and never looked back. Guard Tristen Taylor nailed the game-clinching free throws with 10 seconds left, and the Owls lived to fight another day.
Temple (20-11, 13-5 AAC) outlasted Tulane (12-20, 3-15 AAC) 76-72 Monday night in Fort Worth. The Owls’ win was Temple Basketball’s first in either the men’s or women’s tournament since March 2020.
“I thought it was a very hard-fought game,” said Temple head coach Diane Richardson. “Temple prevailed, and our defense did it. We went into three overtimes, but we never gave up — we kept pushing. I’m pleased that we got the win and we’re gonna move on.”
Four Temple starters played more than 40 minutes in the matchup, but only three Owls scored in double-figures. East led the team with 22 points and racked up nine rebounds. Taylor put on a show in her home state, coming off the bench and scoring 14 points.
Whittington and forward Amira Mabry combined for 52 of Tulane’s 72 points on the night, and none of their teammates scored more than eight points.
“Mind over matter,” Whittington said when asked what kept her going. “Of course I was tired, but it’s really about mind over matter and your teammates. The whole program is depending on me when I have that ball in my hands, so I just didn’t have time to be tired.”
Richardson felt her squad needed to start out strong against the Green Wave after earning a double-bye and five days of rest. Her team answered in the first quarter, sprinting to a 12-5 lead four minutes in and shooting 57 percent from the field by the end of the period.
However, Tulane stormed back toward the end of the first quarter and cut the deficit to just three points. The Green Wave rode their momentum and outscored the Owls 13-5 in the beginning of the second quarter to take a five-point lead. The Owls found their groove again as the first half came to a close, shutting out the Green Wave for the remainder of the period.
The scoring barrage ended in the second half. Both teams put up 17 combined points in the third quarter as Temple tried to keep Tulane at arm’s length. The Owls went scoreless for four minutes but maintained their lead after forcing six Green Wave turnovers.
Temple’s defense kept the team in the game. The Green Wave were put in check and held scoreless for multiple stretches during the third quarter as Temple remained ahead before the final 10 minutes of play.
The fourth-quarter start was almost identical to the third, and neither team scored until the seven-minute mark. Temple held the lead almost the entire fourth quarter but was unable to finish Tulane off, and both teams headed to overtime.
East found her groove in the extra periods against the Green Wave. The Owls’ leading scorer earned 12 of her 22 points in overtime, gradually gaining more confidence as the game went on.
“I was taking it step by step, not trying to force anything,” East said. “I just kept listening to [my coaches], taking it in and that helped my confidence throughout the game.”
The Owls’ defense was on full display, but the team’s effort pushed them to victory. Richardson felt the win was just a testament to what her Owls have been able to do and believes this is the team to make a run.
“We have battled all year,” Richardson said. “The reason why we’re here today is because they all play together; they play for each other. That’s what’s been different for us this year — we played for each other. The culture is great. They play for themselves, and they play for Temple University.”
Temple will face 10th-seed Rice (17-14, 9-9 AAC) in the semifinals on March 12 at 9 p.m. to get one step closer to a chance at its first conference championship since 2006.
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