Playing a solid 40 minutes of basketball has proved to be a bit evasive for head coach Diane Richardson’s Temple women’s basketball team this season. One quarter has often set the Owls off track and puts thoughts of a win in doubt.

That was the case Saturday against Tulane at the Liacouras Center, this time right out of the gate. The Owls missed 15 of their first 18 shots in the first quarter, but yet there they were right at the end against the Green Wave behind the efforts of guard Tarriyonna Gary with a chance to tie the game or win it, holding possession with 3.9 seconds remaining.

After Tulane committed consecutive fouls on the inbound, the Owls had just one second and one final shot at a win. Temple inbounded the ball to guard Tiarra East, and her deep three-point attempt rattled out of the basket, sending the Owls to a 62-60 loss that ended a four-game win streak.

“It was a game that we should’ve won,” Richardson said. “I don’t think we gave enough to win and we’ve got to be tougher. Tulane came in here slinging and ready to fight and they came out with the win. But we’ve got to be better than that. We’ve got to play defense the entire game.”

Temple (12-6, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) was led by Gary’s 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Kaylah Turner had a solid showing off the bench with 10 points, but East’s poor showing proved to hold the Owls back.

Temple’s leading scorer struggled mightily, finishing with just six points on a season-worst 2-of-19 shooting, including 2-for-7 from deep. East’s six points tied her season low.

“I think it was a combination of [poor selection and shots not falling],” Richardson said of East’s performance. “We weren’t moving offensively, so she wasn’t getting the space she needed. I thought some of the shots were pretty quick and I thought she needed to take a little bit more time to get really open and knock down shots, but they played some tough defense as well.”

Temple was tested earlier with strong defense from Tulane that forced the Owls to take difficult shots. The abysmal 3-of-18 shooting mark in the first quarter included five points from Gary.

For the Green Wave, they relied on forward Amira Mabry and guard Kendall Sneed, who scored six points apiece as Tulane took a 14-9 lead to end the first quarter.

“We weren’t moving, which gave them the opportunity to defend us better and we didn’t take great shots,” Richardson said of Temple’s first quarter. “I told them I thought they were asleep in the first quarter. At this point in our season, we got to be ready as soon as the buzzer goes off.”

The second quarter saw the Owls offense pick up, with freshman guard Savannah Curry making an impact off the bench with five points. Five more points from Gary allowed the Owls to find some momentum, but Tulane didn’t back down.

The Green Wave continued to turn to Mabry, as the forward finished with nine points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting and one three. This allowed Tulane to hold a 31-26 lead going into halftime.

The third quarter proved to be the same story, with Temple once again running the offense through Gary with Jaleesa Molina scoring four points as the Owls took a brief lead. Once again, Tulane had an answer, this time with Kyren Whittington leading the charge with nine points as the Green Wave took a 48-45 lead into the final quarter.

The opening of the fourth quarter showed some promise, as the Owls behind Gary’s six points looked primed to take over the final moments. Sneed was effective in the final quarter for Tulane with six points of her own bringing it down to the wire.

But after a Gary three put Temple ahead by 60-58 with 2:32 to go, the Owls went scoreless the rest of the way. Tulane forward Sherese Pittman, the Green Wave’s leading scorer, hit the tying layup with 2:06 left and the go-ahead bucket with 28 seconds to go. Mabry finished with 19 points on the day, with Sneed and Whittington scoring 16 and 15, respectively, as Tulane shot 53% from the field as a team.

What, Gary was asked, allowed Tulane to have a strong offense showing?

“Our lack of communication,” Gary said. “We just talked about it in the locker room. We need to communicate everything. Games from here on out are not going to be given to us. We have to go in there like we want to win every single game and I feel like today, we just didn’t do that.”

Temple now must regroup and travel to Texas for a two-game road trip against the two best teams in the American, starting with a test at North Texas Wednesday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Front page photo by Grace Crosby

Watch Saturday's postgame press conference here.