Owls Close Out Senior Night with Victory Against Rice

Friday, February 28

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

18-10,12-5AAC

Rice

14-15,7-10AAC

Rice

Temple

Photo by: Paige Wisehaupt

Owls Close Out Senior Night with Victory Against Rice

2.28.25 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – In the final home game of the regular season, Temple women's basketball (18-10, 12-5 AAC) stormed past Rice (14-15, 7-10 AAC) 83-63 at the Liacouras Center Friday evening in front of 1,402 fans. Leading scorer Tiarra East scored a career-high 33 points, with 27 points coming in the second half. East shot 10-16 from the field, adding eight rebounds and two assists.

Temple recognized four seniors for Senior Night: Tiarra East, Tarriyonna Gary, Amaya Oliver, and Anissa Rivera.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter

Temple won the tip and got on the scoreboard first with a floater from Tarriyonna Gary 16 seconds into the quarter.
After being up 5-0, Rice responded with five points of its own, tying the game at the 8:31 mark.
Both teams traded baskets leading up to the 4:45 media timeout, with Rice holding a 13-11 lead and keeping the margin within two points.
Gary hit a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter, and Temple trailed by three, 22-19.

Second Quarter

Kaylah Turner opened the second quarter with a jumper, cutting the deficit to one, 22-21, with 8:39 remaining in the period.
Out of the 5:11 media timeout, Rice went on a 6-0 run, extending its lead to eight, 31-23.
After being in a scoring drought for over five minutes, Anissa Rivera scored a jumper, trimming Rice's lead to four, 31-27, with 3:20 left in the half.
Rivera grabbed her second block of the game to close out the first half, and Temple trailed by five, 38-33.

Third Quarter

Rice's leading scorer, Aniah Alexis, scored a layup to start the third quarter, putting Rice ahead 40-33 a minute into play.
Tiarra East reached double figures (12) after going on a solo 6-0 run, cutting Rice's lead to one, 40-39, at the 6:05 mark.
Before the 4:50 media timeout, East tied the game with a three, 42-42.
East went on another solo run, drilling two threes and a jumper, giving Temple a four-point advantage, 55-51, with just over a minute to play in the period.
Gary reached double figures (13) after she drew a foul to end the quarter, making two of three free throws. Temple led 57-53.

Fourth Quarter

Temple went on an 8-2 run to begin the fourth quarter, with Turner (2), Gary (3), and Rivera (3) extending the lead to double digits, 65-55, with 7:27 remaining in the final period.
Heading into the 4:58 media timeout, Temple held Rice to two points and forced two turnovers.
Temple continued its defensive pressure, resulting in six unanswered points, 74-57, at the 3:20 mark.
Turner reached double figures (10) after drilling a three, giving Temple its largest lead of the game (20), with 1:44 left to play.
The Owls finished off Senior Night by running down the clock to secure the fourth seed and a double bye in the AAC tournament.

INSIDE THE BOX

Coming off a game where Temple was perfect on 13 free throw attempts, the Owls missed their first two attempts tonight.
Temple shot 33.3% (12-26), while Rice shot 43.8% (14-32) from the field in the first half.
Temple was outrebounded 25 to 19 in the first half.
East scored 17 of the 22 points in the third quarter, shooting 6-6 from the field.
In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Temple outscored Rice 35-17. East scored 19 points in that span, outscoring the Owls herself.
East had a career-high 33 points, surpassing her previous career-high of 28 against VCU on 11/15/24.

UP NEXT
The Owls will travel to Charlotte on Tuesday, March 4, for their final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.