A pair of upsets by Richmond last weekend have given Temple new life in the stretch drive for the top seed in next month's Atlantic Ten Conference women's basketball tournament at St. Joseph's.

The Owls (11-3 A-10) are tied with George Washington for second place going into the final weekend. They will host the Colonials on Friday.

If they win, the Owls will have to win at Rhode Island on Sunday and need George Washington to beat first-place Charlotte (12-2) the same day.

This scenario assumes a Charlotte victory over Rhode Island on Friday. Temple would win a tiebreaker for first with Charlotte because of a previous victory over the 49ers.

Richmond did the Owls a favor by beating Charlotte and GW last weekend.

St. Joseph's, meanwhile, is tied for fourth with Xavier and travels to Cincinnati to play the Musketeers on Friday. A win would give the Hawks the last bye for the A-10 tourney.

La Salle (in a three-way tie for seventh) will host Fordham on Friday and then travel to Massachusetts on Sunday.

The rankings. In the Associated Press poll released yesterday, Temple jumped from No. 23 to a tie for 17th with Boston College.

Temple has appeared in 23 straight polls, a record for a Big Five school. St. Joseph's, which last appeared in 1990s, has the most appearances with 57, followed by Villanova with 44.

Temple has won at least 20 games in four of coach Dawn Staley's six seasons.

A bit of notoriety. University of the Sciences senior Leah Shumoski appeared in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the Feb. 20 Sports Illustrated.

Shumoski, who is averaging 17.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, is the first Division II player to record career totals of at least 1,800 points, 900 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 steals and 100 blocked shots.

Palestra party. Penn senior Jennifer Fleischer, who was named Ivy League coplayer of the week, celebrated her 22d birthday Friday by tying career highs of 25 points and 21 rebounds in the Quakers' win over Columbia. She also blocked five shots.

Top scorers. Senior Katie Crowley finished her college career Saturday as Haverford's all-time leading scorer with 1,291 points.

Bryn Mawr's Amy Johnson last week became the first junior in the team's history to score at least 1,000 points.

Shooting star. Villanova coach Harry Perretta on Liad Suez-Karni's career-high 34 points against Providence on Saturday, when she scored 25 in the second half: "It was amazing to see. Only two other players each had a field goal for us."