City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here.)

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Big 5 Preseason Primers
MBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | Saint Joseph’s | Temple | Villanova
WBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | Saint Joseph’s | Temple | Villanova

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2023-24 Temple Owls WBB Primer
Coach: Diane Richardson, 2nd season (11-18, .379)
Last Year: 11-18 overall (6-10 American Athletic), lost in AAC First Round (Wichita State, 71-61)

After a rocky first season of the Richardson campaign, including a couple mid-season departures and losses in seven of the Owls’ final eight games after flirting with .500 much of the season, the opportunity is there for some significant improvement on North Broad. Richardson and her staff should have a much deeper crew this time around, with a good core back from a year ago and a promising crop of newcomers joining them. It’s a group that still has to prove itself and will likely have a couple growing pains along the way, but there’s room for some optimism here.

Key Departures: G Jasha Clinton (11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg), F Caranda Perea (5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg), F Brittany Garner (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

Clinton departed from the program 18 games into last season, after starting 16 of them. She wasn’t the only one, as prior starter Aniya Gourdine only played six games before being sidelined and then also departed. Perea, a 6-foot-1 forward who started 20 of 29 games she played in last year, will face her former teammates this year as she stayed in-conference and went to Tulsa. But while all three were contributors to the rotation, the Owls have the pieces to replace them.

New Faces: F Jaleesa Molina (Fr. | The Hague, Netherlands), PG Tristen Taylor (Fr. | Duncanville, Tex.), C Sheyenne Swaine-Price (Fr. | Stoughton, Mass.), G Drew Alexander (Fr. | Greensboro, N.C.), G Demi Washington (Gr. | Vanderbilt), F Alexandra Wilkinson (Jr. | CCBC Essex), G Channing Williams (Fr. | Shabach Christian, Md.)

The Owls finished last season with only eight healthy and eligible players, so this group brings a much-needed infusion of depth — not to mention talent, length, upside, etc. The most experienced of the bunch is Washington, a 5-10 guard from North Carolina who played in 95 games (41 starts) over three years at Vanderbilt (2019-20, 2021-23). She never needed to be a big-time scorer (4.2 career ppg), but she’s got strong defensive analytic numbers and has made more than 44% of her shots the last two years. The only other newcomer with college experience is Wilkinson, a 6-2 forward who played at Harcum and CCBC Essex (Md.), averaging 3.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg last year.

Of the five freshmen, the one who seems most ready to play big minutes is Taylor. The 5-5 guard played for one of the top programs in the Lone Star State and immediately impressed with her playmaking and scoring abilities, marking her as the heir apparent to Aleah Nelson. Molina, a 6-2 forward, spent the summer playing with the Netherlands’ U-20 team, and she’ll give the Owls something up front. Alexander, originally a 2024 commit who chose to reclassify to 2023 and come to Temple this fall, as well as Williams and Swaine-Price are likely to be at the end of the rotation this year. 

Projected Lineup: G Aleah Nelson (15.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.4 apg), G Tiarra East (12.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg), G Tarriyona Gary (9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg), SF Ines Piper (3.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg), F Rayne Tucker (DNP)

Four starters return from last season: Nelson, East, Gary and Piper. Nelson, a 5-6 lead guard, is the team’s returning leading scorer and ball-handler, a fifth-year college player who’s in her fourth year under Richardson. East, a 5-10 guard, is one of the few holdovers left from the Tonya Cardoza era, with 56 games (30 starts) already under her belt as a junior. Gary, a 5-8 guard who also transferred from Towson, was second in the AAC in 3-point percentage (37.0%). And Piper, a 6-0 wing from France, averaged better than a steal and block per game. 

Tucker is one of two players not listed under “new faces” who will nonetheless be new to most Temple fans. The 6-1 forward played for Richardson at Towson after transferring there from James Madison, but her waiver to get eligible for last year after her second transfer was denied. Tucker averaged 10.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg as a sophomore in 2020-21 before tearing her ACL at the end of the season, then made her way back to average 6.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg in 2021-22 though she wasn’t at full health. 

Key Reserves: G Kendall Currence (DNP), C Denise Solis (2.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg), Demi Washington, Jaleesa Molina, Tristen Taylor

This is where the Owls’ newfound depth will show itself, but it might take a little bit for the exact pecking order to sort itself out. Taylor’s certainly the heir apparent to Nelson, expected to see a good bit of time both spelling Nelson and sharing time with her in the backcourt. But just how many minutes she plays will likely depend on the availability of Currence, who averaged 15.9 as a senior at Northeastern in 2021-22 but missed all last year with a torn ACL. While those two see time at the ‘1’ and ‘2,’ at the ‘2’ and ‘3’ will be Washington, the Vanderbilt transfer. Solis, a 6-1 forward who started 10 games a year ago, provides more depth up front, as does Molina. 

Biggest Strength: Starting backcourt

There’s no doubt about where opponents will start when it comes to scouting the Owls this season. That backcourt of Nelson, East and Gary — throw in Currence if she’s mostly recovered from her knee injury — is a quality one, and Washington should play a nice role in that mix as well. Nelson has proven her ability as a scorer at this level, and East and Gary are solid secondary scoring options, especially if East can improve her 3-point shooting. Those three played nearly 97 mpg last year, and it wouldn’t be surprising for Richardson to lean on them just as much this season.

Area for Improvement: Frontcourt production

Owls fans got spoiled by five years of Mia Davis, a force to be reckoned with in the post who finished an all-time great career in 2022 as the Owls’ career leader in points (2,376) and games played (140). Last year’s frontcourt was never going to stack up if only due to her absence, but the Owls struggled to get consistent production from the ‘4’ and ‘5’ spots all season long. Getting Tucker eligible will help, but it remains to be seen just what kind of numbers she’ll put up in the AAC — it’s likely to be a frontcourt-by-committee situation once again.