Temple upset in AAC women’s basketball semifinals by Rice for a second straight season

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Rocky theme performed by Rice’s pep band was fitting on many levels.

First, the tune started just as the Temple women’s basketball team began its jog from the tunnel. Uncanny.

Second, it was an apt anthem for Rice. Then the No. 10 seed, the Owls upset Temple en route to an American Athletic Conference tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth last season.

Now, seeded ninth, they did it again. Rice beat No. 4 seed Temple, 67-49, on Tuesday at Dickies Arena. It was Temple’s second-lowest point total of the season, trailing just a 68-46 loss to West Virginia on Dec. 15. The Owls (20-11) also saw their seven-game winning streak end.

“Everybody’s better than they were when they first got here, and so I’m very proud of that,” Temple coach Diane Richardson said. “But I wish we had gone out with a championship, which was our goal for the year. I’m very proud of them, and I know that some of them are going to go on to the next level and do well.”

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A strong second half powered Temple in a 20-point win over Rice on Feb. 28 and in Monday’s quarterfinal win over Charlotte. But Richardson’s squad missed its first eight shots of the third quarter Tuesday and didn’t score until a pair of Tiarra East free throws with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left in the frame. Overall, the Owls went 3-for-15 in the period, unable to capitalize on Rice’s scoreless stretches as their deficit grew to as many as 15 points by the third buzzer. That hole grew to as many as 20 points by the 6:21 mark of the fourth quarter as Temple shot just 31% to Rice’s 40.4% overall. Temple did not make a three-pointer in eight attempts.

Both teams prioritize rebounding, but Rice held the edge there, too, 39-37.

“It was a really close game through three, and it got away from us in the fourth,” Rice coach Lindsay Edmonds said about the teams’ previous meeting, an 83-63 Temple win. “So we talked about playing four full quarters and imposing our will defensively and making sure that they feel us in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and in the last 10 seconds of the shot clock, so no early transition points and limit their offensive rebounds at the end, and I feel like we did a great job of that.”

Said Richardson: “I think they were pressuring us a little bit, fighting over screens, our ball screens, and they did a good job with that, being very physical with us.

“I think the physicality and the pressure defense was something that we normally do, and they did that today, for sure.”

The second-half woes followed a first half in which the Owls shot 35.7%. Temple, aided by its defense, battled to a five-point lead about halfway through the first quarter and had forced five Rice turnovers by the 4:52 mark. But the Owls went cold for minutes-long stretches, none more glaring than the drought that lasted 3:44 and stretched into the second quarter.

Rice (17-16), which upset top-seeded Texas-San Antonio on Monday, took advantage. Houston’s Owls used a 7-0 run to stake a 19-14 lead, a lead that grew to double-figures on a Malia Fisher jumper with 3:58 left in the half. Fisher, the first-team all-conference forward whom Temple struggled to contain in the 2024 edition of this matchup, again made her presence felt on both ends of the floor and finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks as she sat for much of the fourth quarter. Aniah Alexis added 14 points for Rice.

A pair of sophomores led Temple statistically. Jaleesa Molina, a forward, had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, and point guard Tristen Taylor had 10 points. East added eight points and 10 rebounds and is among four Temple players who’ve likely played their final college game, alongside Tarriyonna Gary, Amaya Oliver, and Anissa Rivera.

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After Fisher’s bucket, Rice was held scoreless for more than three minutes while a Gary-led 6-0 run cut the deficit to four with 2:07 in the first half. But Rice regrouped — and then some. Rice will face the North Texas-South Florida winner in Wednesday’s championship game.

Despite the familiar conference tournament exit, there was one positive similarity: Richardson had led Temple to 20 wins for a second straight season, a marked improvement on consecutive sub-.500 campaigns. Though the Owls will lose major contributors like East and Gary, the growth of players like Molina and Taylor this season offers a starting point for 2025-26.

Molina had a message for Richardson after the game: “Next year, Coach.”

“I have to take a bigger role [next season],” Molina said. “I have to show my new teammates that we’re not [losing] again next year, and I don’t want to do this again.”