Following a difficult nonconference schedule that featured two ranked opponents, head coach Diane Richardson hoped her team would be prepared to begin another run at the American Athletic Conference championship.

The Owls looked the part Sunday. They jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 97-74 win at UAB’s Bartow Arena.

Tiarra East led the way with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting while adding nine rebounds and five assists. Forward Jaleesa Molina, who has started to find her rhythm for the Owls recently, had her best game of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both career-highs. It marked Molina’s first career double-double as well.

Tristen Taylor and Anissa Rivera finished with 13 points apiece as Temple (7-5) shot 54% from the field, and the 41-27 rebounding differential was the Owls’ second-best of the season.

For UAB (9-4), redshirt freshman guard Eleecia Carter led the Blazers with a career-high 15 points. Fellow guard Maddie Walsh scored 13 points on 3 of 7 shooting from three-point range. The Blazers shot 42% from the field and 43% from deep but were outpaced by a Temple team that raced out to a 34-16 first-quarter lead and kept the offense efficient through the remainder of the game.

Temple will return to the Liacouras Center after a three-game road trip to play ECU on New Year's Day at 4 p.m.