Temple’s women’s basketball program announced its nonconference schedule for the upcoming 2024-25 season Thursday afternoon.
The Owls will play four games in front of their home fans at the Liacouras Center while the other seven will either be on the road or a neutral court. The third season under head coach Diane Richardson tips off the same day as the men’s on Nov. 4, with the women hosting Richmond and the men’s team hosting Sacred Heart.
Following the home opener, Richardson’s Owls will embark upon a three-game road trip, playing at Delaware Nov. 12, at VCU on Nov. 15 and at Georgetown on Nov. 19. The Hoyas and Owls squared off last season, and Temple was on the wrong end of a 68-45 rout. Head coach Darnell Haney took the reins following the passing of Tasha Butts and led the Hoyas to the WBIT as interim head coach.
The Owls will return home to play Drexel on Nov. 23 and Princeton on Nov. 26 before staying within the city limits to play at La Salle on Dec. 1. The Owls’ matchups against the Explorers and the Dragons are a part of their pod games for the Big 5 classic. Temple’s results against their cross-town rivals will dictate who they will play out of the other pod. The first ever women’s Big 5 classic will conclude with a tripleheader at Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 6.
Temple’s last home game will be against West Virginia on Dec. 14 and will be their first against the Mountaineers since that program left the Atlantic 10 in 1998. The matchups against Richmond and VCU will be the first since Temple departed the A-10 in 2013.
The Owls will make a cross-country road trip to Berkeley, California to play Xavier, who they beat 78-41 last season on Dec. 21, before playing either Cal or Fordham to round out nonconference play in the Raising The B.A.R. Invitational.
“We have a very challenging non-conference schedule and we’ve tried scheduling a team from each of the Power 5 conferences,” Richardson said in Thursday’s release. “The American is such a strong and well-aligned conference and we believe this will best prepare us for our conference pairings.”
The Owls conference pairings have been announced but the schedule will be announced at a later date.