Forced turnovers are the recipe for success for Temple women heading into conference play

Temple women’s basketball has had its fair share of ups and downs through the first 12 games of the season. Coming off a loss to Northwestern on Thursday afternoon that snapped a three-game win streak, the Owls headed into their Christmas break at 6-6.

At this point last season, Temple was 6-7 heading into conference play. But the circumstances surrounding the team are much different. At one point during head coach Diane Richardson’s first season, she had only eight active players on the team. This year, Richardson has a complete roster and more positivity heading into conference play.

American Athletic Conference competition begins Dec. 30, when the Owls host UTSA (1 p.m., ESPN+). However, Temple still has things to clean up if they want to be a force in the AAC in 2024.

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The Owls are doing extremely well in one of the most important statistics in basketball: turnovers. Offensively, the Owls come into AAC play averaging 13.2 turnovers, the fewest in the conference. Temple also leads the AAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.14.

Defensively, the Owls rank second in the AAC in forcing turnovers on their opponents. Their opponents average 21.5 turnovers per game, and this stat correlates to Temple wins.

In Temple’s dominant 85-61 win over La Salle on Dec. 17, the Owls forced 31 turnovers which led to 30 Temple points.

In a 61-47 win against another Big 5 foe in Penn on Dec. 10, the Owls forced 28 turnovers, leading to 31 points.

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Temple has only been in four games all season in which the margin of victory was under 10 points.

In those games, the Owls are 1-3. In two of these losses, Temple had golden chances to come out with the win. In their 67-65 overtime loss to St. Joseph’s, the Owls had the last shot in a tied game to end regulation. After a timeout, Temple had no movement on the inbounds play. While Aleah Nelson’s three popped out of the basket, the play design wasn’t there, which led to a difficult shot.

In Temple’s 79-78 loss to Pacific on Dec. 2, Nelson missed one of two free throws with seven seconds left, which ultimately cost Temple the game.

In recent weeks, Temple’s defense has been improving game by game, particularly their defense in the paint. Forwards Rayne Tucker and Ines Piper have been terrific at both protecting the rim and being physical while in the paint.

On the other hand, the Owls are 12th in the AAC in defending the three. Temple opponents are shooting 33.7% from downtown, the highest in the conference. Richardson prides herself in coaching defense and as the season has gone on, the team has shown improvement. The next step for the Owls to be successful is defending the three-point line at a much higher level.