Owls Fall in the Semifinals to Rice

Tuesday, March 11

Fort Worth, Texas

7:00 PM

Temple University

20-11,13-5AAC

Rice

17-16,7-11AAC

Rice

Temple

Photo by: Tim McCall

Owls Fall in the Semifinals to Rice

3.11.25 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – In the semifinals of the AAC Tournament, No. 4 seed Temple women's basketball (20-11, 13-5 AAC) lost to No. 9 seed Rice (17-16, 7-11 AAC) 67-49 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Jaleesa Molina posted a double-double, recording 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead Temple.

This marks the second consecutive season Temple has been eliminated by Rice in the AAC semifinals. Last year, Rice, as the No. 10 seed, went on to win the championship.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter

Amaya Oliver opened the scoring with a second-chance bucket at the 8:38 mark.
Rice responded with a 5-0 run, taking a 5-4 lead.
Prior to the 4:52 media timeout, Temple went on a 6-2 run, pulling ahead 10-7, while also forcing Rice into five early turnovers.
Rice closed the quarter with a 7-0 run, ending the period with a 19-14 lead over Temple.

Second Quarter

Fisher opened the second quarter with a layup off a steal, extending Rice's lead to 21-14 with 9:34 remaining.
Heading into the media timeout, Temple had not made a field goal since the 7:42 mark, enduring a scoring drought of over two minutes.
Temple answered with a 6-0 run that lasted just over one minute, cutting Rice's lead to 30-26 with 2:07 left in the half.
Temple trailed by seven at halftime, with Rice leading 33-26.

Third Quarter

Temple called a timeout at the 7:11 mark after Rice made three consecutive baskets to extend its lead to 40-26.
Heading into the media timeout at 4:59, Temple held Rice scoreless for over two minutes after Rice had opened the quarter with a 7-0 run.
Temple scored its first points of the half at the 4:43 mark and hit its first field goal at 4:19, cutting the lead to 40-30 after an eight-minute drought. During that stretch, Temple went 0-10 from the field.
Rice extended its lead to 49-34 by the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Rice opened the final period with a three-pointer from Malia Fisher, pushing the lead to 52-34.
By the 6:00 mark, Rice had a 20-point lead at 56-36.
Before a basket by Molina at the 4:52 mark, Temple had committed turnovers on its last three possessions, resulting in a two-minute scoring drought.
Rice closed out the game with an 18-point victory, 67-49.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Temple failed to score from beyond the arc, going 0-8. In contrast, Rice made 6 of 22 (27%) from three-point range. This marks the first time since 2021 that the Owls have failed to record a three-pointer in a game.
Temple recorded only 5 assists, a season-low. The last time Temple had fewer than 5 assists in a game was in 2014 when they had just one assist against USF.
Jaleesa Molina notched her eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT Temple will await its postseason fate, with tournament announcements scheduled for Sunday evening.