City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here)

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2022-23 Temple Owls
Coach: Diane Richardson, first season (sixth overall), 80-66 (.548) at Towson
Last Year: 13-15 overall (8-8 American); lost in AAC quarterfinals (SMU, 63-55)

Richardson has big shoes to fill taking over the program after the Owls moved on from Tonya Cardoza, the winningest coach in Temple women’s basketball history. The Owls have slumped as of late, however, with just one winning campaign and no postseason trips in the past five seasons since an NCAA Tournament trip in 2017. Richardson enters with some momentum having led Towson to a WNIT trip and a 24-win season in 2021-22.

Key Departures: F Mia Davis (18.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg), F Alexa Williamson (8.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg), G Emani Mayo (4.3 ppg, 2.3 ppg)

Davis leaves the biggest hole to fill as she’s been the team’s go-to player for the last four or five seasons. The first team All-AAC forward led the league in scoring last season and is Temple’s all-time leader in points (2,376) and games played (140). Fellow forward Alexa Williamson transferred to Penn State for a graduate season, while the graduated Mayo made 24 starts last season. 

New Faces: G Aleah Nelson (Sr. | Towson), F Rayne Tucker (Sr. | Towson), G Tarriyonna Gary (Jr. | Towson), G Kendall Currence (Gr. | Northeastern), F Brittany Garner (R-Jr. | Prairie View A&M), F Denise Solis (Sr. | UMass-Lowell), F Ines Piper (So. | Northwest Florida State College), G Kourtney Wilson (Fr. | Bethlehem Catholic)

Seven transfers arrive at Temple this season, six of them with significant Division I experience. Nelson (16.6 ppg, 5.3 apg) and Currence (15.9 ppg) were both first team All-Colonial Athletic Association selections at Towson and Northeastern, respectively, last season. Gary (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Tucker (6.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) were both starters at Towson. Solis was a two-year starter at UMass-Lowell, averaging 9.2 ppg and 4.5 rpg last season. The 6-4 Garner (5.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg) started her career at Missouri before starting 12 games in her second season at Prairie View A&M last season. Piper is a junior college transfer who last played in 2020-21 and Wilson is the lone freshman for the Owls.

Projected Starters: G Aleah Nelson (16.6 ppg, 5.3 apg at Towson), G Kendall Currence (15.9 ppg at Northeastern), G Aniya Gourdine (7.7 ppg. 4.5 apg, 5.9 rpg), F Denise Solis (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg at UMass-Lowell), F Rayne Tucker (6.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg at Towson)

With seven new players in the mix, Temple’s rotation is one of the hardest to peg amongst the 12 City 6 programs. Nelson and Currence will likely be starters in the backcourt given their track record and could quickly give the Owls the best backcourt in the city if their styles mesh. Gourdine does everything for Temple, so she should have no problem fitting in with whatever lineup Richardson decides on, but her versatility should have her back in the starting lineup.

Solis has started in all 76 games she’s played in at the Division I level. Despite the jump from the America East to the AAC, expect her to be a productive inside presence for the Owls. Richardson has a lot of options for the final spot: Gary started 29 games at Towson last season and at 6-4 Brittany Garner would give the Owls some significant size in the front court. Tucker, who started 18 games at Towson, makes sense if Richardson sticks with three guards and two forwards in the starting five.

Key Reserves: G Tarriyonna Gary (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg at Towson), G Jasha Clinton (6.4 ppg, 3.6 apg), G Tiarra East (3.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg), G Jalynn Holmes (2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg), F Brittany Garner (6.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg at Prairie View A&M), 

As previously mentioned, Gary started 29 games for Richardson at Towson last season, so if she is in the starting lineup that wouldn’t be a huge surprise, particularly since Richardson likes to let her teams run. Gary possibly coming off the bench gives a glimpse at the potential depth of this Temple team. Garner could start too as she started 12 games last season at Prairie View. Clinton was the Owls’ second leading scorer as a freshman in 2020-21 before seeing a dip in her production last season. East showed growth and promise as a freshman, starting the Owls’ final 12 games and earning a spot on the 2021-22 All-AAC freshman team. Holmes was also in the rotation last season, averaging 12.9 minutes per game after transferring from Norfolk State. There’s a lot of experience off the bench — quite the opposite of last season when the Owls had multiple freshmen in the rotation.

By the Numbers
(.242): Temple’s shooting percentage from the 3-point range last season ranked last in the AAC and 342nd in the country. Only six programs nationally shot the ball at a worse percentage from deep last season. That’s a big reason why most of Temple’s offensive stats were on the last or second to last page on the NCAA’s site last season. The Owls ranked 270th and last in the AAC in points per game (59.7) and 274th in field goal percentage (.378) as well. Nelson (75-of-221, .339) and Gary (49-of-135, .363) both shot the ball well at a high volume last season at Towson, so look for the Owls’ perimeter game to take a significant boost this season.

(-2.50): The Owls’ turnover margin last season ranked 294th in Division I. They also fouled at an extremely high rate, ranking 289th in the country. Those are signs of inexperience as Temple had three guards with freshman eligibility averaging 18-or-more minutes per game last season. Nelson was 12th in the country in assist to turnover ratio (2.62) at Towson last season — once again highlighting how big of an addition she could be. Taking care of the ball and forcing turnovers without following will be keys for this group this season.

(2): The number of triple-doubles Aniya Gourdine totaled as a freshman last season. No Temple women’s player had ever accomplished the feat before Gourdine did it twice last season. Only seven other D-I players totaled multiple triple-doubles nationally last season and Gourdine was one of just two freshmen to do it. She is a unique player in the way she contributes in so many ways, also ranking 85th nationally in steals per game (2.1 spg) last season. Look for her to fill-up the statsheet in a variety of ways again during her sophomore campaign in 2022-23.

Keep an eye on…

How the pieces fit: Richardson used the transfer portal to expedite the rebuild process, which should keep the Owls competitive in the AAC once again this season. However, there are nine players who started double-digit games at the Division I level last season. Finding and accepting roles will be a critical piece to this team’s success with so many newcomers and young players. Richardson will also have to make sure the addition of a bevy of upperclassmen doesn’t stunt the development of a promising young core. It will be very interesting to see what her rotation looks like to start the season and how it might change throughout.

A change of pace: As noted, Richardson plans to let her team get out and run in transition. “We are going to score in five seconds,” she said at her introductory press conference. After running the offense through Davis at the forward spot the past several seasons, a high tempo offense will certainly be a different look. It seems this group does have a lot of depth and talent at the guard spot, could the new style of play help unlock some players’ games?

A change of place: Temple will no longer call McGonigle Hall home, joining the men’s team in the Liacouras Center for all of its home games. The Owls played in the Liacouras Center once or twice a season in years past, but Richardson wanted her team to play there full-time to match the expectations she has for her program.