Diane Richardson offers some choice words for Temple's 71-58 loss to Tulane

PHILADELPHIA – Diane Richardson had a simple message following Temple’s 71-58 loss to Tulane Tuesday night. 

“That was a piss poor performance,” the Owls’ head coach said. “It was terrible and not Temple basketball at all. It’s gotta be fixed.” 

It wasn’t the first time Richardson has felt this way. She echoed a similar sentiment after the Owls’ home loss to UTSA on Jan. 3, where they scored 47 total points and looked lost on offense until the fourth quarter. 

Temple, which was picked to finish fourth in the preseason American Conference poll, is 7-9 overall and now in 10th place in the American Conference at 1-3. The Owls led for 12 seconds, were outrebounded 39-31 and shot 5-for-23 from beyond the arc in their second straight loss, this time to a Tulane team that’s 7-10 overall and 2-3 in league play. 

Temple’s late-game execution was particularly poor, as it allowed multiple offensive rebounds and turned the ball over on a five-second violation. 

Forward Jaleesa Molina had her best performance of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough. 

“No pride. No pride in going after the ball,” said Richardson, who elected not to have players speak during the postgame press conference. “They wanted it more than we did and the 50/50 balls killed us. They went after them and we did not. We can’t sit back and let any team come into the Liacouras Center and do what they did to us. It is unacceptable.” 

Temple’s defense was a point of concern after it gave up a season-high 94 points to Tulsa in its loss on Jan. 9 and it looked like Tulane was going to have a similar performance early on. The Green Wave made five of their first 10 shots as the Owls struggled to keep up on defense. 

However, unlike past games, Temple’s offense also started hot. The Owls also shot 5-for-10 to start and emphasized scoring in the paint. Forward Saniyah Craig made a living against Tulane’s opposing post players with three layups to limit the Green Wave’s lead to 14-13. 

In the final five minutes of the opening quarter, Temple’s offense went cold while Tulane’s continued to heat up. 

The Owls went nearly four minutes without a basket, which allowed Tulane to extend its lead to 24-13 after a three from guard Mecailin Marshall. Temple guard Kaylah Turner ended the drought with a layup to send the Owls to the second quarter down nine. 

Temple’s defense finally found an answer for the Green Wave’s offense to start the second quarter. The Owls became more aggressive on the ball and forced seven turnovers while holding Tulane scoreless for the first five minutes. 

Guard Tristen Taylor knocked down a three, just Temple’s second of the game to that point, to bring its deficit to 24-20. Instead of building on the momentum, the Owls went scoreless over the next four minutes. The Green Wave took advantage and pushed their lead back to 31-20. 

The Owls managed to bring their deficit back to 33-27 entering halftime thanks to four straight points from Turner. The former Alabama A&M transfer shot just 2-9 in the first half and finished 4-for-20 from the field overall for 10 points. 

“I want to see more confidence from [Kaylah],” Richardson said. “She’s second-guessing her shots, taking quick shots and just not confident in them. That’s gotta change because we know she can score the ball.” 

Turner, who had 31 points on 10-of-24 shooting against Tulsa, has had efficiency issues early in conference play. She was 3-for-18 in Temple’s 50-47 loss to UTSA on Jan. 3 and 5-of-14 in its 70-50 win over Wichita State on Jan. 6. 

Temple needed a spark in the second half to mount a comeback and found it in Molina.

Molina had struggled to start conference play, scoring single digits in two of the three games but asserted herself offensively in the third quarter with 10 of Temple’s first 11 points. She scored in a variety of ways, including getting out in transition, knocking down free throws and stepping out to hit a three-pointer. 

The Owls got within three points behind Molina’s efforts and stayed close by drawing fouls and getting to free throw line. 

Taylor and guard Drew Alexander each made free throws to briefly tie the game, then Alexander made three free throws to give Temple its first lead at 46-45 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. 

But once again, Tulane finished the quarter strong and scored the last five points to hold a 50-46 lead entering the last 10 minutes. 

“We have to play harder and each person has to step up and do what their job is and not look around for somebody else to do it,” Richardson said. “Today, we kind of sat back and looked around to see who else was gonna do something, or it wasn’t my fault because she didn’t do this. That is not playing together and we have to play together in this conference.”

The Green Wave dominated the Owls on the glass, 39-31, including 14 offensive rebounds. Tulane forward Dyllan Hanna grabbed one of those offensive rebounds and that possession eventually turned into a three for forward Amira Mabry to give Tulane a 53-47 lead. 

The Owls could not find momentum after Mabry’s three to continue their comeback hopes. The Owls were 1-for-9 from three in the fourth quarter and 5-of-23 overall. Temple has shot below 30% from three in all three of its conference losses. 

“I thought we took quick shots in threes and we kept saying get to the rim,” Richardson said. “But again, that selfishness came back and they just wanted to shoot threes. You can’t expect the ball to go in when you’re shooting 21% and just keep trying.” 

Turner connected on a jumper that got Temple within seven with a little more than a minute to play, but Marshall hit a three on the other end to put Tulane up 65-55. Temple did not go away quietly, but ultimately shot itself in the foot multiple times. The Owls allowed two offensive rebounds off missed free throws, got called for a five-second violation on an inbounds pass and missed two free throws in the final minute. 

Temple now heads to East Carolina (12-6, 4-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. 

“Again, we have to play Temple basketball, and the confidence and the grit and the resilience and the ‘I’m gonna throw my body on the line to get these 50/50 balls. I’m gonna box out and get rebounds,’” Richardson said. “We need them to take that on personally and not look to someone else to do it.”