Owls Drop Road Contest at Rice

Wednesday, January 28

Houston, TX

8 PM

Temple University

9-11,3-5American

Rice

18-3,8-0American

Temple

Rice

Photo by: Tim McCall

Owls Drop Road Contest at Rice

1.28.26 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HOUSTON – The Temple women's basketball team (9–11, 3–5 American) fell to the Rice Owls (18–3, 8–0 American), 65–56, on Wednesday night in Houston.
Kaylah Turner led Temple with 16 points, shooting 6-for-18 from the field. Saniyah Craig finished with 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting while adding seven rebounds. Jaleesa Molina closed out the night with 13 points and eight rebounds.

How It Happened
First Quarter

Kaylah Turner got on the board first for the Owls with back-to-back baskets to take a 4–0 lead.
Turner knocked down a three to extend the Owls' lead to 7–2.
Victoria Flores headed to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 7–4 game.
Flores connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at seven.
Saniyah Craig followed with a pull-up jumper to give the Owls a 9–7 lead.
Coming out of the media timeout, Rice went 0-for-4 from the floor during a scoring drought lasting more than two-and-a-half minutes.
Shelby Hayes cut through the lane for a layup to tie the game at nine.
Temple struggled to close out the quarter, not scoring a basket after the 4:41 mark.
Despite the offensive struggles, Temple's defense held Rice to just nine points in the first quarter, as Temple also had nine points. Rice entered the game averaging 70 points per contest.

Second Quarter

Hayes connected on the first basket of the second quarter to give Rice an 11–9 lead.
Craig answered with another pull-up jumper, giving her four points on the night.
Louann Battiston and Hailey Adams scored for Rice, extending the lead to 18–13.
Rice held its largest lead of the quarter at six points, but Temple stayed within reach. Brianna Mead converted a second-chance basket to pull Temple within three with just over four minutes remaining.
Both teams struggled offensively late in the quarter, as Rice endured a 3:47 scoring drought while Temple went scoreless for 2:55.
Rice closed the half with a late basket from Battiston to take a 23–19 lead.

Third Quarter

Following a Flores three, Rice built its largest lead of the night, 28–21.
After a Molina layup at the 9:06 mark, Temple went 0-for-5 from the field during a scoring drought of more than 2:47.
Temple shot 1-for-8 from the floor heading into the media timeout at 4:35, trailing 34–24.
Temple responded with a 9–0 run over two minutes to cut Rice's lead to three, 36–33.
Rice answered with baskets from Hayes and Battiston to close the quarter with a 43–36 lead.

Fourth Quarter

Molina, Taylor and Craig carried the scoring early in the fourth quarter as Temple cut Rice's lead to five, 49–44.
Rice heated up offensively at the 4:17 mark, going 4-for-4 from the field to extend the lead to 12, 59–47.
Heading into the media timeout, Rice closed on a 7–0 run over the final 1:42 to build its largest lead of the night, 61–47.
In the final three minutes, Rice committed three straight turnovers and went 0-for-5 from the field.
Despite not scoring a field goal in the final 3:17, Rice held off Temple to secure the 65–56 victory.

Inside the Box

Neither team shot well in the first half, combining to go 17-for-57 from the field.
Temple held Rice to one of its lowest first-half point totals of the season (23). Rice's lowest first-half output this year was 18 points against UIW in November.
Rice limited Temple to 19 first-half points, Temple's lowest since scoring 17 against Princeton last season.
Kaylah Turner led all scorers at halftime with nine points.
Temple recorded 10 second-chance points.
Temple did not record a block, compared to Rice's nine.

Up Next
The Owls will travel to New Orleans to face Tulane on Saturday, Jan. 31, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The game will air live on ESPN+.