Barring a miracle, the Owls season will end whenever they are knocked out of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

With a 12-17 record (5-9 in the A-10) Temple cannot earn a Women’s National Invitation Tournament berth. Teams are only offered a bid in the tournament if they have a record above .500.

Temple’s only hope of playing after the conference tournament is to sweep through it and win the championship. Their record alone keeps them out of the NCAA Tournament unless they earn an automatic berth by winning the conference.

The task in itself will be daunting. If Temple were to advance past their opening round match against seventh-seeded Xavier (13-15, 7-7 in the A-10) they will face Charlotte (22-7, 12-2 in the A-10). They knocked off the Owls in the season finale already, 58-44.

After that Temple would face the winner of the Fordham and Butler/Saint Louis game in the semifinals. Temple wouldn’t face regular season champion Dayton (27-1, 14-0 in the A-10) until the championship round, if they get that far.

Regardless, the Owls’ chance of making the NCAA Tournament is a long shot.