PRINCETON, NJ -- Temple's women’s basketball team fell to No. 24 Princeton, 67-49, in its season opener Monday night at Jadwin Gymnasium. Guard Jasha Clinton led the Owls, who hit just one three-pointer all night, with 15 points in the loss.
Temple came out to a slow start as Princeton hopped out to an early lead and displayed why it entered the game ranked in the country’s Top 25. At one point, the Tigers went on a 13-0 scoring run in the first quarter en route to a 20-9 lead after the first 10 minutes.
First-year Temple coach Diane Richardson's squad came came out in the second quarter with a more patient approach, however. An Aleah Nelson charge with 4:41 left in the first half helped spark a 15-3 run for Temple. The Owls' fast-break offense was on display, as Tiarra East had four points while Nelson also recorded four points as well during the scoring stretch. The shots still refused to fall outside along the arc for both teams, as they both combined to shoot 0-for-17 from three in the first half.
Temple trailed, 28-25, going into the half.
Princeton's Kaitlyn Chen knocked down a step-back, mid-range elbow jump shot at the buzzer to end the third quarter to give Princeton a 44-35 lead. Fatigue seemed to hit Temple after Chen’s jumper, as the Owls were outscored, 23-14, in the fourth quarter. Temple finished the game just 1-of-20 from 3-point range and 29 percent from the field. Princeton shot 43.6 percent in its opening contest win.
The game marked the first game of the Richardson era for Temple and the first game in five seasons without the program's all-time leading scorer in Mia Davis. Without Davis, who finished her career with 2,376 points, someone had to step up and East did just that.
East, who finished the contest with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, capitalized on her open jump shots and her layups in transition, she said after the game.
“I am just a really big guard,” East, who made The American's All-Freshman team last year, said. “I just try to get in there when the ball goes up, and get us second-chance points.”
Richardson came to Temple from Towson with the plan for her team to adopt an “equal opportunity offense.” In an ideal situation, Richardson's offense consists of everyone on the court getting a touch and shooting the ball, which Richardson’s teams utilized in the past to regularly score between 70 and 80 points.
Simply put, the Owls did not do that on Monday night.
“I think there were a lot of instances where we slowed the ball down instead of looking ahead,” Richardson said. “We have to be more consistent from all five players.”
Problems in the paint
The Owls had problems in the paint on Monday night against the Tigers. Princeton outrebounded Temple, 51-28, and finished with 36 points in the paint.
The issues down low resulted in Temple getting whistled for 18 fouls in the second half. The Owls drew their fifth foul with five minutes remaining in the third quarter and ended the quarter with eight fouls. Temple reached its fifth foul of the fourth quarter just two minutes in and struggled throughout the remainder of the game.
Turnovers
Temple might not have won the actual game but did win the turnover contest. Temple forced 16 Princeton turnovers, but did suffer 11 of its own.
“We have to be more efficient,” Richardson said. “We’ve got to be very careful with our own ball security and making sure we're strong with it.”
Richardson's squad will try to get its first win of the season on Saturday when it takes on Georgetown at the Liacouras Center. This will be the first time the women’s team will play all of its home games in the Liacouras Center since the 2008-09 season.