Women’s Basketball Takes Down Former A-10 Rival Xavier, 78-41, in Game One of the Briann January Classic

Friday, December 1

Tempe, Arizona

6:00 PM EST

Temple University

3-4,0-0AAC

Xavier

0-7,0-0Big East

Temple

Xavier

Photo by: Paige Wisehaupt

Women’s Basketball Takes Down Former A-10 Rival Xavier, 78-41, in Game One of the Briann January Classic

12.1.23 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

TEMPE, Az. – The Temple women's basketball team (3-4) defeated former Atlantic-10 rival Xavier (0-7), 78-41 on Friday night. This is the first game of the Brainn January Classic hosted on the campus of Arizona State University. The win marks Temple's first ever win in the state of Arizona, and first game in the state since 1988.

The Owls dominated the second quarter, ending the half on a 16-2 run to take 19 points lead into the break, Temple never looked back. Four Owls scored in double figures (Gary, East, Molina, Taylor), this is the third time this season at least four have reached the decade mark. Temple held Xavier to just 41 points, the least since allowing 41 at ECU in 2022.

First Quarter: Temple 18, Xavier 12
> The contest started slowly, with both teams combining to miss their first six attempts from the field. Xavier opened up the scoring after nearly two full scoreless minutes. The Owls called the first timeout of the game after falling behind 4-0 with 6:11 remaining in the frame.
> On the other side of the timeout, Rayne Tucker scored two quick buckets to tie things at four all. This was the first of seven consecutive made field goals for the Owls to build a 14-9 lead.
> Temple continued to dominate throughout the first. With one minute remaining, Temple was on an 8-0 run, 12-2 run, and had forced three straight turnovers from the Musketeers.
> Five different Owls scored in the first quarter. Tiarra East led Temple in scoring with six.

Second Quarter: Temple 37, Xavier 18
> Temple began to build an advantage on the back of back-to-back three pointers from Tarriyonna Gary (24-16, TU). Aleah Nelson added a layup to go up by double-digits.
> Scoring slowed down in the middle of the quarter with neither team scoring for over two minutes of game time.
> Temple broke the game open in the last four minutes. The Cherry & White ended the frame on an 11-0 run. Freshman forward Jaleesa Molina scored two layups after stealing the ball twice. The Owls forced seven turnovers over the run.
> Gary led Temple with six points in the quarter. Molina had four points to go with two steals.

Third Quarter: Temple 57, Xavier 30
> Temple scored five of the first seven points to force a timeout from Xavier (42-20, TU).
> The Owls fell into a three and half minute scoring drought, but TU's crushing defense stood strong, only allowing the Musketeers to score four points in the same stretch. Gary earned a four-point play to put the lead back at 22 points (46-24, TU).
> The Cherry & White slowly, but surely began to expand the lead. Freshmen Taylor and Molina helped power the run, combining for eight points in the quarter.
> East and Taylor tied for the quarter lead in points with five.

Fourth Quarter: Temple 78, Xavier 41
> Molina and Nelson scored to start the quarter and build a 32-point lead over the Musketeers (62-30, TU).
> Temple dominated as the game wrapped up and Coach Richardson emptied the bench. Xavier struggled to score as Piper impressed with four points and five rebounds in the last quarter.
> Walk-on Channing Williams and Makayla Waleed scored as the Owls wrapped up, 78-41.

Game Notes
> This marks Temple's first win on a neutral court since 3-6-2020 when the Owls took down East Carolina in the AAC tournament, 67-57. It is Temple's first win in a Multi-Team Event (MTE) since defeating Harvard, 81-69 in the Hall of Fame Women's Challenge on 11-30-2014.
> Temple has now defeated Xavier in three straight matchups dating back to 2013 when the two shared a home in the A-10. The Owls are undefeated against Xavier in non-conference play (2-0).
> This is the most Temple has defeated a BIG EAST opponent in program history.
> 37 points is the largest margin of victory in an MTE since defeated UMES, 84-38 (46 points) at the Temple Classic on 12-30-2001 when Dawn Staley led the Owls.
> Molina set a new career-high with three steals.
> All 12 active Owls touched the floor, no Temple player played more than 25 minutes.

Up Next
> Temple returns to the floor tomorrow for the second and final game of the Classic against Pacific. The game will tip at 3 p.m. EST on the Pac-12 Digital Network and the Varsity Network App.