The Owls will begin the regular season with a road contest against cross-town rival La Salle on Friday at 7 p.m. Friday’s game will be both team’s first Philadelphia Big-5 game of the season.

Last year, the Owls earned a 14-18 overall record which included a 5-9 Atlantic-10 conference record. Among Temple’s nine conference losses was a 71-57 loss to former A-10 foe La Salle in McGonigle Hall. The loss to La Salle was coach Tonya Cardoza’s first loss to the Explorers in her five seasons as coach of the Owls.

Junior guard Tyonna Williams, redshirt senior forward Natasha Thames, and sophomore Erica Coville are the Owls’ top returning players and will be part of the starting roster against the Explorers. Coville joins the starting lineup after a season-ending knee injury last season.

In the offseason, the Owls brought two new players who will likely start against the Explorers: freshman guard Feyonda Fitzgerald and former George Washington fifth-year senior forward Shi-Heria Shipp. In the Owls’ exhibition game against West Chester, Fitzgerald scored a game-high 23 points and Shipp tied a game-high with 12 rebounds.

Top returning scorer junior guard Rateska Brown has been suspended indefinitely so Temple will also depend on sophomore guards Meghan Roxas and May Dayan to provide support off the bench at the guard position. Roxas scored 11 points in last year’s game against La Salle.

Depending on Cardoza’s decision on the size of Temple’s lineup, freshmen centers Safiya Martin and Taylor Robinson may also play significant minutes.

For La Salle, its starting lineup will feature a brand new combination of players, as they return four letterwinners and no starters from last season. The Explorers were selected to finish in tenth place in the A-10’s preseason poll.

With Temple moving to the American Athletic Conference, the Owls and La Salle no longer conference foes, but the 37 year Philadelphia rivalry continues in the Big-5. Last year’s victory gave La Salle a 21-20 all-time advantage against Temple.