AMERICAN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2026

Diane Richardson

Kaylah Turner

Saniyah Craig

Legacy Arena At The BJCC

Temple Owls

Postgame Press Conference

Temple 86, Tulane 77

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Temple head coach Diane Richardson, Kaylah Turner and Saniyah Craig.

DIANE RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thanks, everybody, for being here. It was a hard-fought game and we've had, this was our third game with Tulane. They play real tough we've had some tough games.

My hat's off to Ashley Langford to battle back, get us into overtime, and then we just had to do what we do. It was a hard-fought game and I'm glad we came out on top.

Q. Kaylah and Saniyah, talk to me about what the mindset was entering overtime after they come back, tie it with that shot with ten seconds left, you can't get the shot off at the end of regulation, what's that mindset like in the huddle after that? How do you reset and get yourself ready for five more minutes of basketball where you know your season is on the line in these five minutes?

SANIYAH CRAIG: Really it was just like, we got this. We know we could score like regardless, so we were just like, we got this. Don't then the turnovers before dictate the rest of the game.

KAYLAH TURNER: Yeah, and that fourth quarter wasn't our favorite. We had another chance to come out and pick up the game in our favor, next-play-mentality. We know turned the ball over, a couple bad shots, so overtime gave us a chance to play Temple basketball.

Q. Can you walk me through what happened in the fourth quarter as they started chipping away? What did Tulane started to rattle you on offense? You kept getting to the free-throw line. What happened in that fourth quarter that resulted in Tulane to be able to force overtime there?

KAYLAH TURNER: They picked up their intensity on defense, but it's mostly on our end. We weren't playing Temple basketball. We weren't making the right passes, being string with the ball, and taking the right shots and making our shots.

So I would that was the biggest thing.

And turnovers was the biggest thing well. But it's our mistake to fix on our own end.

Q. Kaylah, take me through the game you had to do. 31 points; 8 made three-pointers. It was kind of like peaks and valleys throughout the game. You started kind of slow, big second quarter, a little quiet in the third, and fourth and hit those two really big threes in overtime that flipped that momentum for good. Talk me through how you get through those peaks and valleys throughout and be such an effective scorer and shooter in such a big game like this.

KAYLAH TURNER: Yeah, at the end of the day, I was missing my shots but I just wanted to win. I told myself to just keep shooting. My teammates and my coaches were telling me the same thing, so I kept shooting and luckily they started going in.

Q. Saniyah, a double-double for you today. After a bucket you were clapping and screaming and getting everyone riled up. Talk to me about the energy today and what worked well for you to be able to get that double-double and be such a factor on the boards.

SANIYAH CRAIG: Really, my role is to be energy. If my team needs it, we need energy, 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.

Q. For either of you. The beginning of the third quarter they scored four points right away and then you guys called a time-out. What was that time-out like and how did you guys reset to get back on top?

SANIYAH CRAIG: I feel it was more so to settle us down. I know we had to go on a run. It was like, okay, they went on a run and now it's our time, and that's what we was saying in the huddle.

Q. Yeah, as exciting as this game was, kind of in a big over-time one, you have another one tomorrow. What's the mindset to flush this and say, all right, we have a tough match-up tomorrow; how do we go and handle business tomorrow?

KAYLAH TURNER: We're going to start by watching film. We lost to them so we know what we need to work on. So watch film, working on that, and just come out and play Temple basketball at the end of the day.

Yep, get ready tonight.

Q. Diane, from your point of view, take me through that fourth quarter going into time from your perspective. What was your mind going through as that was unfolding and eventually overtime ensues?

DIANE RICHARDSON: Yeah, just the confidence and knowing that, okay, they tied it up; we were going into overtime. 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.

Q. How do you channel -- I mean, we talk about the consistency a lot, and today kind of felt like that's where the consistency lacked a little bit, was the start of the game, third and fourth quarters, and then there was those moments in the overtime and the second quarter where the threes are going in; You guys are playing with energy; It's like Temple basketball like you keep talking about. How do you channel that for this UTSA game tomorrow and prevent that fourth quarter from happening, especially because you can't afford that as these teams get better and better later in the bracket?

DIANE RICHARDSON: Yeah, as Kaylah said, we're going to watch film and see what we did and didn't do so we can fix that tomorrow. They're really good at watching film and we'll be able to take a look at that and know we can't make those same mistakes.

Q. What were you seeing from the Tulane defense? I think it was majority of that first half, it felt like they were in a zone where you guys were able to get open threes. At first they weren't going in, but then they start going in. Then they started going in. That's what built out that lead was you start getting those open three-pointers. What did you see from that defense? You're expecting that zone from Tulane, and then how did you adjust to it or how did you handle that to find some success from beyond the arc?

DIANE RICHARDSON: Yeah, we did figure they would go to zone. They played zone, especially against teams that play like us, so I knew they were going to do that. Our shots were falling, we were getting in spots, and knocking down shots.

THE MODERATOR: We have somebody on Zoom.

Q. Hey, so Diane, it wouldn't be Temple and Tulane in the tournament without an incredible overtime game. Did you have a quick flashback to two years ago?

DIANE RICHARDSON: Well, yeah, it was a triple overtime then, I think. But I had confidence in our team, in our players that that would rally behind. We went to overtime with Tulane earlier in the season. We were used to that. We had been battling so many teams and different styles this year that I knew we would be able to bounce back because we were experienced with that.

Q. It's a great thing when one of the headlines out of a game is the free throw shooting; more than anything you might have loved that from your team today?

DIANE RICHARDSON: I think we were both happy. We shot 33, they shot 32, so, you know, both of us were a little handsy today.

Q. I just meant the efficiency. You hit 90%, right?

DIANE RICHARDSON: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that, too. We shot 85% from the free-throw line and that's been our goal all year.

Q. I have one more. Diane, I want to ask, At the end, this is counterintuitive second-guessing but it seems like you were handling the full-court pressure very well and the two time-outs to advance it, which is what everybody does, but it was the advancing where the turnovers happen. You think that maybe they could have stuck with going full length, or...

DIANE RICHARDSON: We wanted to take the secure route and advance the ball. Unfortunately we turned it over but that's something as a coach you've got to do that.