FORT WORTH, TEXAS- Temple’s season has revolved around one word: revenge.

The fourth-seeded Owls went into Tuesday night’s American Athletic Conference tournament semifinal matchup against No. 9 seed Rice with the opportunity to right the wrong that had gnawed at them for a year after the same Rice program ended Temple’s season in last year’s conference tournament semifinals.

But plans of redemption were put on hold as Temple found itself down going into halftime. To make matters worse, Rice opened the third quarter by scoring seven unanswered points, leaving head coach Diane Richardson no choice but to call a timeout.

With the season on the line, Temple needed to improve mightily to even have a chance of making the championship game, but the Owls instead responded with 27% shooting in the second half.

Rice, led by forward Malia Fisher’s 18 points, ended Temple’s season 67-49 at Dickies Arena. The Rice Owls will move on to Wednesday’s championship game against the winner of the South Florida-North Texas semifinal, while the Temple Owls will once again head back home early to Philadelphia because of a loss to the Owls from Houston.

“It was a disappointing loss,” Richardson said. “Obviously, we wanted to win. Rice played a tough game with lots of pressure, and we came out on the bottom side of it today. I just wish that for my kids that we could’ve pulled this off.”

Jaleesa Molina led Temple with a team-high 11 points and 10 rebounds, with Tristen Taylor scoring 10 points of her own. Leading scorer Tiarra East was held to eight points on 2-for-14 shooting, while Tarriyonna Gary didn’t fare much better, scoring just four points on 2-for-9 shooting and missing all four of her three-point attempts.

Amaya Oliver got Temple (20-11, 13-6 American Athletic Conference) out to a fast start, scoring four quick points, but Rice (17-16, 8-11 AAC) responded with five of its own, finding success working inside Temple’s defense down low. Rice’s defense began to force misses by swarming any Temple player that got the ball in the paint

Rice’s offense began to pick up with forward Sussy Ngulefac, who, using her 6-foot, 4-inch frame, began to score inside, drawing Temple’s defense to double-team. This left Rice’s shooters out on the perimeter and allowed guard Victoria Flores to knock down a pair of threes as Rice ended the first quarter leading 19-14.

“They were pressuring us,” Richardson said. “Fighting over our ball screens, and they did a good job being very physical with us.”

Temple’s offensive struggles continued into the second quarter as the Owls struggled to get out in transition and score. Whenever Temple did find good looks at the rim, the Owls missed too often. Rice's defense controlled the boards, not allowing any second-chance points, forcing empty Temple possessions.

Fisher started to heat up, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds in the quarter. Temple’s offense started to find some positives to end the quarter but went into halftime trailing 33-26.

Out of halftime, Rice picked up right where it left off, this time with guard Aniah Alexis leading the charge. Alexis scored seven points as Rice held Temple to 3-for-16 shooting in the quarter.

Temple’s offense continued to show no signs of life in the fourth quarter and managed just a pair of free throws through the first five minutes of the final quarter. From there, Rice controlled the tempo and the paint while Temple struggled to shoot from deep. Rice held Temple to 0-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the game.

“We tried to get inside,” Richardson said. “Again, it was a physical game today, and they stopped us. Eight three-pointer attempts is not what we normally do. It’s normally much more than that.”

With the loss, East, Gary, Oliver, and Anissa Rivera could have potentially played their final collegiate games, unless the Owls receive a WBIT or WNIT invitation.

“It’s just tough,” Richardson said. “I know that they worked hard and that they’ve all elevated their games. Everyone’s better than they were when they first got here, and so I’m very proud of that. But I just wish we would’ve gone out with a championship, which was our goal for the year. I’m very proud of them, and I know some of them are going to go on to the next level.”

Richardson said following the game that she will work with the current roster and address the depth in the transfer portal, which is set to open March 25. Richardson confirmed that Molina had a conversation with her following the game and said she would be returning.

“We’re losing five people, and obviously, we’ve got to replace them, but my goal is to build around the players that we have, ” Richardson said. “We’re gonna go out there and look for depth just like we do every year. Jaleesa told me in the hallway, ‘Next year coach,’ and I believe her.”