The Guru Report: Temple Advances in a Triple Overtime Thriller to the AAC Semifinals Two Steps From the NCAAs

Guru note: Temple coverage based in live reporting from The Inquirer and others; the rest on wire and school reports.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

While many are looking to Sunday night on St. Patrick’s Day hoping the luck of the Irish shines their way when the NCAA 68-team field and parings are revealed (8 p.m., ESPN), the luck of the Owls led third-seeded Temple to the drivers seat in the American Athletic Conference semi-final round Tuesday night though it took a triple-overtime thriller 76-72 over upstart 14th seed Tulane in a quarterfinal round of thrillers Monday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Owls face 10th seed Rice (17-14) at 9 p.m. after defending champion East Carolina (18-13) meets UTSA (17-13) at 7 p.m., both on ESPN+.

After a weekend in which the season-long best bets of local teams appearing in the Big Dance became long odds with quarterfinal ousters of Villanova in the Big East and Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic Ten suddenly Temple has emerged as the team to be shown banded together when the NCAA women’s selection show takes place.

In early January while the Hawks and Wildcats were doing their thing Temple (20-11) entered AAC play with mixed results but a stronger team than the one with a short roster through injuries and departures in Diane Richardson’s first season that was quickly eliminated a year ago in the AAC opener.

But in recent weeks the Owls forged a run that saw them make their way last week to a triple tie for the conference title and double bye to Monday’s quarterfinals though their side of the bracket included second-seeded North Texas, one of a bunch of new members after the Big 12 pounced upon the league, which handled Temple early on the AAC slate. And South Florida could still be a threat to ultimate success.

But at least Temple was in position to play in the new WBIT organized by the NCAA or WNIT, which would be progress.

The Owls were last on Monday’s docket to play in the quarterfinal round but by the time their turn came, Tulane in earlier rounds on Saturday had upset No. 11 SMU, headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference, and sixth seed Charlotte, the Green Wave starting to transform into a tsunami.

Then on Monday, first top seed Tulsa was edged 75-71 by East Carolina, last season’s surprise winner. Next up, fifth-seeded South Florida, the AAC behemoth after UConn returned to the Big East, fell 58-56 to to UTSA, and then the second seed North Texas group got edged by Rice 61-59. The other Owls went up by a point with 41 seconds left and held it with UNT missing two foul shots and a layup in the last 18 seconds.

So there it was, three underdogs that Temple had beaten advancing and the Owls about to face a Tulane (12-20) squad they swept 68-50 in New Orleans in late January and 69-52 late last month at the Liacouras Center that got them in regular season title contention.

If anything, Temple needed the experience they gained in tight wins during the late season surge as a long day waiting evolved into a long night of playing until advancing to the semifinals.

The Owls may have gone to the Southwest to get an AQ to the NCAAs, but staying East as in Tiara East, the veteran recruited by Tonya Cardoza, has been fortuitous in the sea of new arrivals in Richardson’s first two seasons.

“The difference between this year and the years earlier is that we’re all together,” East told The Inquirer’s Maria McIlwain. “We stay together, no matter what. Wins, losses, ups and downs, we stay together, no matter what.”

The game was the first multi-overtime in AAC tourney history, and longest for the Owls since a five-overtime defeat to Memphis in 2016.

“We have battled all year,” Richardson said. “The reason we’re here today is because they all played together. 

“And they played for each other. The culture is great. They play for themselves, and they play for Temple University.”

East finished with 22 points, including 12 in the extra periods, in front of a crowd including the Temple men who play Texas- San Antonio in an opener Wednesday at 3 p.m. (ESPN+).

She also had nine rebounds in 49 minutes while freshman Tristen Taylor from nearby Duncanville had 14 points and four assists, Demi Washington scored 12 with seven boards, and Rayne Tucker had eight points and 14 rebounds.

Kyren Whittington had 31 points and six assists for Tulane and hit two free throws with seven seconds left that forced the first overtime after East from the line had given the Owls a brief lead with 15 seconds left.

If this were baseball in a marathon extra inning game, East was the slugging star keeping Temple alive. Her jump shot with 38 seconds left got Temple to the second overtime, her two free throws extended the game to a third overtime, and her shot with 2:18 remaining in that period became the game winner. 

The roster makeup recalls the heavy senior group on the men’s side that won the 1969 NIT over Boston College in Madison Square Garden when the tourney was the virtual equivalent of the then 16-team NCAA.

This one has seven seniors or grads, five facing their final moments.

“In one of our breakdowns before the game, I was just telling everybody, ‘This could be your last game,’” Tucker said. “For me, it could have been my last game in a Temple uniform.” 

In the other two tourneys containing other locals this week Rider, the eighth seed, plays ninth seeded Iona opening the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s and women’s tourneys Tuesday in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall. The winner faces top seed and No. 25 Fairfield (28-1), which ran the table and has the nation’s second longest win streak behind No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina (32-0).

Penn, having just lost to Princeton, must play the defending Ivy champs again Friday in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal at second seed Columbia on the Upper West Side in New York City, followed by the Lions, who at 7:30 p.m., will try to avoid the upset last season by third-seed Harvard that knocked them out of an NCAA tourney appearance.

The Tigers and Lions tied for the regular season crown for the second straight time, this go round beating each other on home courts.

And that’s the report.