Temple women hope tough early schedule has prepared them to be American Conference contenders

Temple coach Diane Richardson knew she wanted her team to be battle-tested for American Conference play and crafted the Owls’ nonconference schedule to reflect that.

Richardson lined up five teams coming off NCAA Tournament appearances. The Owls went 1-4 in those games, with their lone win coming at home against George Mason in the season opener on Nov. 3.

The difficult schedule leaves Temple with a 6-6 record that does not scream conference title contender. However, with a similarly difficult schedule at this same time last year, the Owls were 6-5 but went on to win 13 conference games and finished fourth in the American.

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Now Richardson is hoping to see similar results. Temple has displayed more offensive firepower and improved rebounding numbers, but the key to success for Richardson will be defense and starting games strong. The Owls’ quest for an American championship starts on Saturday at home against the reigning regular-season champion, Texas-San Antonio.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Richardson said. “I know our last outing with Princeton kind of showed us that we have the resiliency that we’ll need. I just wish that we would start out like that. But I’m feeling pretty good. We’ve gotten the tough part behind us, and now we enter into the second season, which is the most important.”

Temple’s four losses against 2025 NCAA Tournament teams all came by double digits, with its closest result an 87-77 defeat to Princeton on Dec. 22. The Owls also showed flashes of fight and the ability to remain competitive in those games.

In their 72-57 loss to Atlantic 10 favorite Richmond on Nov. 18, the Owls were down double digits early in the second quarter but battled back and were within striking distance until the final five minutes. Temple trailed by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter against Princeton but fought back to trail by as little as nine points in the final minute.

“Early on, we weren’t responding really well,” Richardson said. “ … But I think as we got into the season, we started understanding that this is tough, and we have to be tougher. Coming toward the end of the nonconference season, I thought we played better, which is a plus for us going into conference play.”

Richardson wanted her team to play faster before the season, but during nonconference play, she felt the Owls were not assertive on offense to begin games or played out of control, which led to an increase in turnovers.

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Temple also had to play its final four nonconference games without starting point guard Tristen Taylor after she suffered an ankle injury during a trip to the Bahamas from Nov. 28-30. The Owls were 2-2 without her.

Taylor was the Owls’ second-leading scorer at the time of her injury, averaging 10.1 points and leading them in assists (4.6). She was also second in the American in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2:1. Without its main ballhandler, Temple looked out of sync at times, especially in its 59-52 loss to Drexel in the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 7.

The Owls leaned on guard Kaylah Turner, who ascended to one of the best players in the conference in Taylor’s absence.

She averaged 23 points in the four games Taylor missed, including a career-high 36 points against Princeton. Turner, who is averaging 17.8 points this season, also took on point guard duties and struggled with turnovers, but she still offered a steady presence at the top of the offense. Richardson expects Taylor back within the first two games of conference play. She believes Taylor and Turner can be the best backcourt in the conference.

“In the scoring aspect, I do think I did well, but I feel like I could have done way better,” Turner said. “With playmaking and passing, that’s something I’m still working on. So I feel like I definitely could have improved that.”

Richardson was keen on her team playing faster on offense and improving its rebounding in the offseason. Nonconference play has shown offensive improvement and major strides on the glass for the Owls.

Temple is averaging 70.1 points, a four-point increase from its mark last year. Three players — Turner, Taylor and forward Jaleesa Molina — are averaging at least 10 points. Turner leads the American in scoring (17.8), field goal percentage (.450) and three-point percentage (.460) .

The most notable improvement for the Owls has been their rebounding. Last season, Temple averaged 38.8 rebounds and had a rebounding margin of 0.8. This season, the Owls are averaging 39.8 rebounds but holding opponents to 33.9. The Owls give up the second-fewest rebounds in the conference and are second in rebounding margin.

Molina and transfer forward Saniyah Craig have spearheaded the Owls’ efforts on the glass. Craig, who was the ninth-leading rebounder in the country at Jacksonville last season, is averaging 8.9 rebounds this season, and Molina averages 8.4.

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“We’ve got to be hungry and we’ve got to get every rebound,” Richardson said. “We’ve concentrated on that this week as well. So that’s going to be something that hopefully we’re good at.”

The main area of struggle for Temple has been taking care of the ball. The Owls are averaging 19.6 turnovers, four more than they averaged last season. Temple has turned the ball over at least 20 times in five games, including their last three.

Richardson knows the turnover numbers have to come down for her team to reach its championship aspirations, but she believes that the key to a banner being raised in the Liacouras Center will come on defense.

“You can miss shots, but you can always play defense,” Richardson said. “I think that oomph, that extra adrenaline turning people over defensively helps us offensively because it gives them more confidence. We want to compound our defense and make that our No. 1 thing.”