Temple looks to be challenged in its trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops tournament
The Owls haven’t played outside the United States since 2019. Coach Diane Richardson's team will compete against No. 20 Michigan State and get to do “some nice cultural things” this week.
The Temple women’s basketball program had not taken a trip outside the United States since 2019, when it competed in the Cancun Challenge in Mexico.
Coach Diane Richardson wanted to take a similar trip with her team this season, and this time the Owls are set to land in the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship.
Temple will play No. 20 Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. Friday, then Clemson or Western Carolina on Sunday.
The trip will give the Owls a chance to bond and experience a foreign country, Richardson said, while also continuing to gain experience against difficult competition in preparation for American Conference play.
“Not only is it a competitive environment with the sports, but they get to see the culture and all of that other stuff,” she said. “We’ll do some cultural things while we’re over there, too.”
When the Owls head to the islands Wednesday, they’ll have a special guest with them.
New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones is a Bahamas native and Richardson’s adopted daughter. Jones will be with the Temple players for most of the trip to help show them the culture.
The Owls have competed in multiteam events in the last two years. They went to Tempe, Ariz., for the Briann January Classic in 2023 and Berkeley, Calif., for the Raising The B.A.R Invitational last season. However, this event will be a different experience, Richardson said.
“They’re going to swim with the dolphins and maybe some yoga with the flamingos,” she said. “So we’ll do some nice cultural things. Take up a lot of the different Bahamian meals … and meet some of the townspeople. It’ll be a great experience.”
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Richardson said she and the rest of the coaching staff will not partake in every activity because they still are preparing and scouting for the games.
With all the fun planned, Richardson’s squad still is ready to compete.
“It’s well planned out,” Richardson said. “We’re going down there with serious business to compete as well.”
The Owls (3-3) enter the tournament following an 88-58 drubbing against Villanova on Saturday. Another tough test awaits.
The Spartans are unbeaten through six games and have scored at least 90 points in each game. Michigan State also will be the fourth team the Owls face this year that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
Depending on the results of the first round of games, Temple then will face Clemson or Western Carolina. The Tigers had a losing record last season but are 4-2 so far. The Catamounts entered Tuesday with a 2-4 record.
“It’s important for us to be challenged early, so that we’re used to that,” Richardson said. “And then we’re resilient and can fight through some things because we’ll be challenged by some Top 25 teams. And when we get to conference play, it won’t be a heavy lift because we’ll have been through it already.”