Temple’s AAC Tournament run is over, but the Owls may still play on

FORT WORTH, Texas — Demi Washington knows that she’s living her final moments in a college basketball uniform, taking her final shots, pulling down her last rebounds. And she’s determined to make them count.

The Temple graduate transfer, who came to North Broad ahead of 2022-23 after spending three seasons at Vanderbilt, pulled her Owls back into it after they sank into a 13-point hole with 4 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter of their American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal against Rice. She finished with a game-high 19 points and six rebounds.

But Rice, the newcomer in the AAC after 18 seasons in Conference USA, wasn’t ready to end its maiden voyage and held on to win, 60-57, on Tuesday night at Dickies Arena.

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The Owls had a glimmer of hope — the ball on their half of the court, a two-point deficit, and 4.1 seconds to conjure up some of the magic that helped propel them here. But their 22nd and final turnover, a picked-off inbounds pass by Rice leading scorer Malia Fisher, ended their run.

Fisher had an answer for nearly every Temple rally and was disruptive on both sides of the ball. Though she didn’t score in the 11-0 third-quarter run, the 6-foot-2 junior finished with a team-best 17 points and five rebounds.

That Rice run was marked by Temple’s sixth and seventh offensive fouls. The Owls finished with eight.

“I’d love to look at the film to see how many of those [charges and traveling calls] contributed to our 22 turnovers,” Temple coach Diane Richardson said. “But we had to be stronger with the ball. And I knew that they would come in and try to put pressure and play the passing lanes. … But I’m going to look at that and see where we are in terms of that because I think we’re going to play on.”

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Temple put together a 10-2 run of its own to climb within single digits as the third quarter ended. Washington cut the deficit to one with 6:14 left to play, and Tarriyonna Gary, despite being held to 0-for-5 shooting from the floor, later gave the Owls a brief one-point lead on two free throws. But the groundwork Rice laid in the first half, built on a foundation of nine first-half turnovers and early foul trouble for Temple, proved to be too much.

Washington is one of five Temple players winding down their final season of eligibility. But she, Aleah Nelson, Kendall Currence, Denise Solis, and Rayne Tucker likely have at least one more game, whether it’s in the new, NCAA-owned Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament or the WNIT.

“This is my last go-around, so whatever chance I get to dribble the ball, I’m going to take,” Washington said.

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After the quintet’s race is run, they’ll leave the program they helped turn around — a historic turnaround that has seen the Owls record a program best-tying nine more wins this season than they had in 2022-23 and their first-ever regular-season AAC title — in the hands of veteran leaders like Gary and Tiarra East (10 points), while Tristen Taylor (nine points) looks to take on a bigger role as a sophomore next season.

“I am proud of them because we had a turnaround season, probably one of the biggest turnarounds in the NCAA,” said Richardson, who added that Taylor was being evaluated after hitting her head hard in the game’s final seconds. “I’m proud that they fought all the way through the season. We came up short, and it’s a disappointment, obviously, because we wanted to be champions. But, hopefully, we’ll live to fight on with the WBIT.”

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