It Took Overtime As Temple Advances in the American Women’s Basketball Tournament

The # 7 Owls Defeat #10 Green Wave of Tulane 86 – 77

March 10, 2026 –

In the first round of the AAC Tournament the Temple Owls had to play an extra five minutes, but they survived and move on to the second round ousting Tulane 86 – 77. Owls guard Kaylah Turner scored a game-high 31 points making 8 of 15 three-pointers. Temple faces #6 UTSA in the second round.

Temple had control of the game early and had a 51 – 39 lead after three quarters. But Tulane would mount a furious come back. The Green Wave won the fourth quarter by a 31 – 19 margin, and tied the game at 70 on a three-pointer by Kanija Daniel.

“That fourth quarter wasn’t our favorite,” said Turner. “We had another chance to come out and pick up the game in our favor, next-play-mentality. We turned the ball over, a couple bad shots, so overtime gave us a chance to play Temple basketball.”

Five more minutes.

Tulane got out to a 74 – 70 lead within the first minute of overtime. Now, the Owls had to answer the Green Wave and did so by scoring the next 11 points. Turner drained back to back three-pointers in that run. The lead grew to 81 – 74 on a fast break layup by Jaleesa Molina. Turner had the assist.

Tulane got to within 4 with 1:07 on the clock. Temple ended the game scoring the next five points.

Temple Coach Diane Richardson was confident in her team.

“Confidence and knowing that they tied it up and we were going into overtime,” said Richardson. “The confidence that I know we would be stepping up to get back. We worked so hard in the game, let them come back, so I knew we had the resilience to bounce back and come back and play hard, so they did.”

Three other Owls scored in double figures. Craig cored 14 points, took down 15 rebounds, and added a game-best 5 assists.

“Really, my role is to be energy. If my team needs it,” said Craig. “And I see we make a shot and I just feel like we need energy and I just get to yellin’ and, yeah, that’s what I do.”

Tristen Taylor also added 14 points while Molina contributed 10 points and 9 rebounds. Temple forced 22 turnovers, 11 by steals led by Savannah Curry with 5.

Mecailin Marshall, the league Freshman of the Year, led the Green Wave with 25 points and handed out 4 assists. Daniel added 13 points along with Amira Mabry. Dylian Hanna contributed 10 points.

The game was a foul fest as the whistle blew 48 fouls. Temple made 28 of 33 foul shots, while Tulane was good on 27 of 32.

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: glenn@phillycollegesports.com