Drexel takes down Temple, 59-52, in Big 5 Classic third-place game

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Through one month of the season, things haven’t gone Temple’s way. 

Head coach Diane Richardson put together a challenging nonconference schedule for the Owls in an attempt to get them ready for American Conference action, but Temple has been stuck in neutral, beating the teams it should while losing to the tougher teams. 

Sunday’s matchup against Drexel in the third place game of the Big 5 Classic had a chance to be a pick-me-up with just three more games until American action. Instead, it showed Temple is still a work in progress. 

Starting guard Tristen Taylor was out with a sprained left ankle, but yet another slow offensive start and a substandard rebounding effort beyond Taylor’s injury led to a 59-52 loss to the Dragons at Finneran Pavilion. 

The loss wrapped up a disappointing 1-2 slate in city series play after Temple won last season’s Big 5 championship. 

“Drexel did a great job defensively against us. Had us doing things that we didn’t want to do,” Richardson said. “I thought that we sat back too long and tried to battle back in the fourth quarter. You just can’t do those kinds of things, especially against a good team like that.”

Throughout the first month of the season, Temple’s lack of firepower has been a theme. The Owls (4-5) have shot 32.6% from the floor and averaged 5.7 turnovers in their eight first quarters this season. Instead of breaking that trend, Temple was a broken record, repeating the same cycle it has fallen into most of the season.

It looked like Temple had ended its first quarter woes to start with an easy 9-2 run behind back-to-back threes from guards Drew Alexander and Kaylah Turner, but a six-minute scoring drought ensued. Drexel (6-3) didn’t fare any better, going three minutes without a basket. When the Dragons got within three with 3:24 left in the quarter, they didn’t score for the remainder of the period. 

With Taylor out, Turner was thrust into the main ball-handling role, and it didn’t work. The Dragons forced seven first-quarter turnovers and Temple missed 10 of its last 11 shots for a 11-6 score after one quarter. 

The Owls turned the ball over 18 times on the day. 

“We miss her. She’s definitely a floor general,” Richardson said of Turner, who sprained her ankle in Temple’s win over Western Carolina a week ago. “Forcing Kaylah Turner to be the number one the entire game, and to check the best player, hurt us a little bit.”

Those scoring woes went away for a bit when Temple opened the second quarter hitting five of its first seven baskets. Drexel, not wanting to be outstaged, countered every blow with guard Deja Evans cut the deficit to two with five minutes left before halftime.

Then the offenses disappeared. Temple looked frazzled when it had the ball and Drexel kept up its hounding defense to force six more turnovers in the frame. Temple’s defense was able to hold its own, which kept it in the lead. The Owls forced 11 turnovers in the first half and came away with nine extra points.

Temple had a 22-15 second-quarter lead, but Drexel guard Molly Rullo gave the Dragons a spark. The freshman had 10 second-quarter points, including five on a three and then a layup with four seconds remaining that slashed Temple’s lead to two points at halftime. 

“My teammates were getting me the ball in situations, knowing that I had the hot hand,” Rullo said. “Just practicing every day, you get that reassurance and confidence so that when you go out and perform, you’re able to.”

It led to a back-and-forth in the second half, before the Dragons got the upper hand. Evans had two layups before Rullo once again got her time to shine. She hit one three to make it a one point game, then had another two minutes later for Drexel’s first lead since the eight minute mark of the second half.

That lead never left the Dragons grasp through the rest of the game. Temple briefly had a 37-36 advantage before giving it away. The tandem of Evans and Rullo became Drexel’s main source of offense and Temple couldn’t contain them. Evans had 16 of her 18 points after halftime and Rullo poured in a career-high 22 points.

“I’ve been having this problem with these young kids that just sit back for a little bit. They just chill,” Richardson said. “We’ve had that problem this year where they’re just like, ‘OK, let’s see, let me get punched in the mouth before I wake up.’ And we did that.” 

Everything went back to Temple’s lack of intensity to begin the game. Richardson’s team shot 50% in the fourth quarter, but it was too late. Drexel outrebounded Temple 17-8 in the second half and Taylor’s absence hindered them. Turner led the team with 16 points and forward Jaleesa Molina added 10, but no other player reached double-figure scoring on a day when the Owls shot 39.6% from the field (21-for-53) and 23.5% (4-for-17) from three-point range. Forward Saniyah Craig managed just two points, six rebounds and four turnovers in 26 minutes. 

“We thought coming in that we would have some advantages rebounding-wise because we have such great post players, but we turned the ball over a lot,” Richardson said. “I think they got down a little bit and just didn’t have that sense of urgency, and Drexel did.”

Richardson said Taylor is expected to be back for the Owls’ next matchup after missing Sunday’s game. Temple will have a chance to bounce back against VCU (3-6, 0-1 Atlantic-10) this Saturday at 2 p.m at The Liacourus Center.