The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Delaware Wins 4th Straight Topping Host Colgate in Ovt.; Howard Upsets Fairfield

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Just one local was in action Friday night on a light schedule across the board as Delaware (5-2) on the road at Colgate (4-4) prevailed 70-64 in overtime at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y., winning its fourth straight in what was a steal in every sense of the word.

That was due to Safi Kolliegbo, a 5-9 junior out of Life Center Academy from Willingboro, N.J., who previously played at Niagara.

The guard had eight thefts, the most in the program since 2008 which even predates the Elena Delle Donne era.

She also scored eight points, her steals the third most by a Blue Hen, matching the same total back in 2008 by Kyle DeHaven.

Ande’a Cherisier matched her season high of 17 points and in gaining her second straight double double out did her previous best one game ago grabbing 15 boards.

Arantxa Portalez also set a personal high on the boards with 14, eight more than her previous milestone. Kailah Correa was perfect on the line 6-6 on the way to 14 points and Trinity Vance scored 11.

It was a game of runs but the Blue Hens were unable to take it in regulation, the score knotted at 53-53 and remained after Colgate tied it with 1:42 left in the quarter.

Delaware came back to life in the overtime on a 5-0 run at the outset that didn’t diminish as the Blue Hens tied their game high for points in a quarter with 17.

Next up is a visit from George Washington Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

On Saturday, Princeton is at Belmont in Tennessee at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), Rider hosts Yale at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., Rutgers opens Big Ten play at 6 p.m. hosting No. 12 Iowa at 6 p.m. (FS1) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., while Penn State also opens Big Ten play hosting Nebraska at 1 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The National Scene

Just one ranked team played Friday, No. 25 West Virginia (7-2) at home in Morgantown bounced back from Monday’s home loss to Villanova and a two-game losing streak to win 97-51 over Mercyhurst (0-8) as Jordan Harrison led five Mountaineers in double figures with 19 points.

Next up is a Monday visit from Texas Southern.

Howard (7-3) at home in the nation’s capital pulled a big upset beating Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Fairfield 72-69.

Zoe Stewart scored 23 for the winning Bisons, a total matched by Kaety L’Amoreaux for the visiting Stags (4-3) who next visit Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Richmond Sunday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) while Howard the same day heads to Old Dominion at the same time and airing the same network.

In the HBCU Hoops Invitational at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Hampton beat Livingstone 82-66 as Kiarra McElrath scored 19 points for the Lady Pirates and Edwin Waters beat Bethune-Cookman 55-46 as Tan Brown led the winners with 19 points.

The consolation game Saturday is at 11 a.m. and the championship is at 3:30 p.m.

In the Briann January Classic in Tempe, Ariz., San Francisco (6-2) won 68-45 over Nevada (4-5) as Candy Edokpaigbe of Italy scored 16 points for the winning Dons while Arizona State (9-0), January’s alma mater, won 57-47 under McNeese State (5-3) as Gabby Elliott led the host Sun Devils with 19 points.

The Sun Devils and Dons meet Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+ while McNeese and Nevada meet at 2 p.m.

Harvard’s Abigail Wright scored 22 points as the host Crimson (6-5) won 67-33 over visiting Stony Brook (3-7).

In other games of note Saturday, the annual Summit/Big Sky challenge, which began Wednesday, completes the second and final round.

Army (6-2) hosts UMass at noon on ESPN+, the visiting Minutewomen who will be competing in the Mid-American Conference after the school left the Atlantic 10 are off to a 7-0 start.

Illinois (7-1) hosts Indiana (8-1) at noon in a big Ten opener (BTN).

In a battle of unbeaten opponents No. 8 TCU (9-0) hosts UTEP (7-0) at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Penn Blasts Maine; Villanova Goes 1-0 in the Big East at Georgetown; SEC in a Landslide Over the ACC in the Annual Challenge

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Coming out of a respectful showing Sunday in an 81-63 loss at now No. 2 Texas, Penn followed up here Thursday night at home in The Palestra dominating America East contender Maine 58-35.

Meanwhile a few hours south, Villanova, on the heels of Monday night’s equally ownership at No. 25 West Virginia, opened Big East play winning 76-69 in the nation’s capital at Georgetown.

Neither winner allowed this Sunday’s second annual Big 5 Classic on the women’s side, returning to Villanova, distract from dealing the teams directly in front of them.

The host Wildcats (7-2) will meet arch-rival Saint Joseph’s at 4:30 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion for the championship hoping to revert last season’s title game when a strong second-half performance by Temple gave the Owls the title.

Completing a three-game sweep on the week’s schedule has the potential to land Villanova, when the next Associated Press women’s poll is released Monday at noon, back in the national rankings for the first time since being in the Top 10 at the close of the Maddy Siegrist era three seasons ago.

Penn (6-3) will get the triple header under way at noon playing La Salle for fifth place followed by Temple and Drexel meeting at 2:15 p.m. for third.

NBC Sports Philadelphia will telecast the entire afternoon’s action.

Here at Penn, it was more the defensive side feeding the offense against the Black Bears (3-6) as the Quakers produced a lopsided 19-5 differential on points off turnovers besides an equal one-sided 30-14 comparison on points in the paint.

Simone Sawyer in the backcourt had another outstanding performance scoring a season-high 21 points, dealing three assists and grabbing three steals, while center Tina Njike scored 12 points with nine boards and Katie Collins had eight points with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Maine’s Adrianna Smith was the only player in double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Penn was in front most of the way soaring to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and winning the next two periods before cooling off in a 6-5 claim of the fourth by the opposition.

“We just try to keep our energy,” Sawyer said of her night. “I mean, my teammates did a good job trying to find me, keeping our energy throughout.”

Penn coach Mike McLaughlin continued his season-long praise of Sawyer’s play.

“She wants to be good,” he said. “She wants to finish her career the right way.

“Defensively, she’s always been very good, but now she’s finding the basket. Offensively, she’s got a high-level confidence. She’s come a long way in her game, and I want to celebrate every minute with it.”

McLaughlin also reflected on his team’s respectful showing against a Power 4 Longhorns squad on the road in Austin, playing a Texas team coming off back-to-back wins over then-No. 3 UCLA and then No. 2 South Carolina in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas.

“I was so proud. We were up four (15-11) after the first period and then after trailing by a lot at the half (41-27) we closed it to nine early in the third period, kept it there for a long while.”

Meanwhile, in the win over the Hoyas (5-3) Jasmine Bascoe followed up for Villanova from her 24 points in the win at West Virginia with 26 points at Georgetown shooting 10-23 from the field while Brynn McCurry, who collected a career-best 21 against the Mountaineers, just missed matching it, scoring 20 shooting 6-11 from the field.

McCurry grabbed seven boards, and Kennedy Henry had six rebounds with eight points.

In the only other local action, Lafayette (4-5), following a 22-10 second quarter for a 38-30 lead at the half on the road, was outscored 39-23 the rest of the way at Northeast Conference defending champion FDU (6-3), which won 69-61.

The Leopards, who host Marist Sunday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., got 24 points on 10-15 from the field from Teresa Kiewiet, while Talia Zurinskas was 3-4 from deep and scored 13 points, and Haylie Adamski scored 10 points.

Sauda Ntaconayigize from Quebec City grabbed eight boards.

FDU, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Gaitley, was led by Kailee McDonald, who was 7-13 from deep and scored 23 points with seven boards while Rebecca Osei-Owusu grabbed 12 boards.

Delaware was the only local playing Friday visiting Colgate of the Patriot League in Hamilton, N.Y.

On Saturday, Princeton is at Belmont in Tennessee at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), Rider hosts Yale at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., Rutgers opens Big Ten play at 6 p.m. hosting No. 12 Iowa at 6 p.m. (FS1) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., while Penn State also opens Big Ten play hosting Nebraska at 1 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The only other local Sunday has Lehigh at Mount St. Mary’s at 2 p.m.

The National Scene

A lot of games were close, but like elections in which contests are similar but most going to one party, the Southeastern Conference completed a 13-3 landslide in the two-night annual challenge with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In addition, two ACC teams not playing in the event on Wednesday fell to mid-majors, MAAC runnerup Quinnipiac beat Boston College while Coastal Athletic Association tournament champion William & Mary beat Wake Forest.

On Thursday in the challenge, No. 5 LSU (9-0) for the first time this season didn’t reach 100 points, but the Tigers still came close winning 93-77 at Duke (3-6) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.

The Blue Devils took an early 14-1 before the Tigers rallied with six players scoring in double figures.

Flau’jae Johnson led the way with 18 points and South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 16.

The eight-game 100 point each streak at season’s outset broke the NCAA record set in 1981-82 when LSU coach Kim Mulkey played with Louisiana Tech in 1981-82. The Lady Techsters went on to win the first NCAA title.

Ashlon Johnson scored 16 for Duke, the ACC preseason favorite which was No. 7 in the first AP women’s poll, launching the rankings’ 50th season, and two weeks later was cast out by the nationwide media panel.

If the SEC picked up a wide win from LSU, No. 3 South Carolina (8-1), the NCAA national runnerup to UConn, barely escaped at No. 22 Louisville (7-3) winning 79-77 to add to SEC collection when Tajianna Roberts missed a three-pointer of an inbound pass when time expired.

Madina Okot, whose 23 points and 13 rebounds for the winning Gamecocks were completed with 13 points and 10 boards in the second half, put S.C. up two with a foul shot with eight seconds left.

Tessa Johnson added 20 points for Dawn Staley’s group while Raven Johnson had 11 points and eight assists.

Roberts scored 20 for Louisville.

No. 2 Texas (9-0), which had two top 5 wins at the Players Era tourney last week in Las Vegas, in a battle of ranked teams at home in Austin, put a W in the SEC column winning 79-64 over No. 11 North Carolina (8-2) as Jordan Lee set a career-high with 22 points and Madison Booker scored 18.

The Tar Heels, whose 20 turnovers led to 24 Texas points, got 17 points from Elina Aarnisalo and 16 from Indya Nivar.

In another game with a pair of ranked teams, No. 13 Ole Miss (8-0) at home in Oxford beat No. 18 Notre Dame 69-62.

South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo had 28 points for the losing Irish (5-2) and was tossed in tbe final seconds for taunting.

Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon led the Rebels with 22 points, including her 1,500th, and Christeen Iwuala had 18 points and 13 boards. The two combined for 13 of the 19 points by Ole Miss in the fourth quarter.

The SEC’s other wins came by a narrow 68-67 Missouri home triumph on Shannon Dowell’s layup with one second left over California along with Mississippi State’s easy 79-44 home win over Pitt, and Alabama’s likewise 72-48 easy triumph over visiting Clemson.

The ACC picked up a narrow 68-64 outcome by Virginia Tech and 78-63 result by SMU over visiting Arkansas.

 

   

 

 

 

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Saint Joseph’s Drops A-10 Opener to Rhode Island While La Salle Wins A-10 Match Over VCU; Drexel Tops American; No. 19 Tennessee Edges Stanford

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Devoid of Saint Joseph’s leading scorer Gabby Casey due to illness and down 30-18 at the half to recent conference thorn Rhode Island here at Hagan Arena Wednesday night the Hawks pulled another comeback to knot the score 48-48 on a steal by Aleah Snead and layup by Cecilia Kay with 4:14 left in regulation.

But unlike some recent Saint joseph’s wins the Hawks (6-2) in one of several Atlantic 10 openers couldn’t pull this one out of the fire.

Two minutes later Brooklyn Gray hooked one inside to snap the tie, then Vanessa Harris scored after a turnover followed by shot from deep by Palmire Mbu and Rhode Island (7-2) completed an 11-4 closeout after the tie for a 59-52 victory.

“I was pleased with a lot of things tonight and I was unpleased with a lot of things,” said Hawks coach Cindy Griffin, now in her 25th season guiding her alma mater. “If you’re looking at from a production standpoint Rhian (Stokes) and Aleah and Cecilia, three guys in double figures.

“But you have to look at turnovers (18) and this is a possession game and you gotta be better. So, where do we go from here? It’s a good game for us to have this early, I wish it wasn’t a league game but it is but we’ll learn from it and we got to get the next one.”

That would be Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia) in the second annual championship of the Big 5 Classic championship against Villanova returning to the Wildcats’ Finneran Pavilion where the home team lost to Temple in the same round last year.

Villanova could be playing for a national ranking after pulling an upset Monday at No. 25 West Virginia and pending how the ‘Cats fare Thursday night in the nation’s capital at Georgetown (7 p.m., ESPN+) in a Big East opener.

The undercard in Sunday’s triple-header all airing on the same network will have La Salle and Penn tipoff at noon followed by Temple and Drexel playing at 2:15 p.m.

In the game here, Stokes scored 16 while Snead and Kay each scored 13 with Snead also grabbing seven boards.

Rhode Island, coached by Tammi Reiss, the backcourt mate with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley at Virginia in the early ‘90s, got 20 points and six rebounds from Mbu, and Gray collected 12 points and eight boards.

Nearby, starting a half-hour earlier, La Salle (6-2) at home in the John E. Glaser Arena, took its A-10 opener, a 70-62 victory over VCU (3-5).

Aryss Macktoon shot 9-12 from the field to score 21 with seven boards for the Explorers while Anna Przyszlak had 15 points, six rebounds and a career-high three steals.

Career marks were also set by Kiara Williams with eight boards and Ashleigh Connor with six assists.

Down in West Philadelphia Drexel (5-3) snapped a three-game losing streak taking a big lead early and holding on for a 55-48 win over American (1-6) at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The Dragons had been on an extended road trip so in pre-game ceremonies coach Amy Mallon was honored for reaching her 100th victory and Amaris Baker for collecting her 1000th career point.

Baker Wednesday night scored 20 points, and Molly Rullo had a career best 11 points shooting 4-7 against the Eagles whose first-year coach Kelly Killion, a former Father Judge star, made her second homecoming visit in less than a month, this one closer to her previous stomping grounds down 33rd Street at The Palestra where she was on the staff of her college coach Mike McLaughlin at Penn.

Molly Lavin grabbed nine boards and Deja Evans grabbed eight.

Up north in Bethlehem, Pa., Lehigh (4-5) at home in Stabler Arena took a 66-52 win over Cornell (4-5) as Lily Fandre scored 21 points and freshman Leia Edwards from London, England also scored 21 points.

The Mountain Hawks exploded for 20 points in the final period to build on a seven-point lead.

Next up is a Sunday visit to Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., at 2 p.m. on FloCollege.

Lehigh’s nearby Patriot League rival Lafayette is actually playing a day later Thursday at 7 p.m. at Northeast Conference champion FDU in Teaneck, N.J. On NEC Front Row.

Thursday’s other locally involved game has Penn back home at 6 p.m. hosting America East contender Maine at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).

The National Scene

On the first of the two-night ACC/SEC Challenge the SEC just missed a 7-0 sweep as Syracuse (7-1) was able to beat Auburn 66-60 in overtime in upstate New York as Dominique Darius scored 20 points, Nigerian Uche Izoje scored 16 points, Laila Phelia, whose previous two seasons were at Michigan and Texas, scored 14 points and Sophie Burrows scored 11 against the Tigers (8-2).

No. 19 Tennessee (6-2) playing at Stanford (8-2) meeting the Cardinal in a long-running series for the first time in almost three years won 65-62 in Palo Alto in the Bay Area of Northern California as Talaysia Cooper scored 19 and grabbed a career-best 10 steals and hit the game-winner with six seconds left.

The win virtually assures the Lady Vols will stay in The Associated Press Women’s Poll’s next rankings Monday to become the first team with 800 appearances.

This is currently week 890 in what is the poll’s 50th anniversary season.

Under the legendary late coach Pat Summitt, who was relatively new with the Lady Vols when the poll was launched Nov. 28, 1976 in The Philadelphia Inquirer, two years before the AP began running the weekly vote, Tennessee had only missed 14 appearances when she stepped down battling alzheimer’s disease.

Former players Holly Warlick and Kelly Harper followed while this is Kim Caldwell’s second season in Knoxville.

In other series results Wednesday, No. 9 Oklahoma (8-1) turned back an upset threat from N.C. State (5-4) winning 103-98 in overtime at home as freshman Aaliyah Chavez scored 33 points.

No. 15 Vanderbilt (9-0) at home in Nashville got 28 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals from Somerset (N.J.) resident Mikayla Blakes in an 81-68 win over Virginia (6-3).

Tonie Morgan scored 20 and No. 17 Kentucky (9-1) won 64-48 at Miami (5-3) while Texas A&M (6-1) won 72-63 at home over Georgia Tech (3-6), Georgia (10-0) and won at Florida State (4-6).

The ACC even took it on the chin two non-series games: Boston College fell 76-49 to visiting Quinnipiac while Wake Forest at home was edged 67-64 by William & Mary, last season’s surprise Coastal Athletic Association tournament champion.

Nine more games are on tap Thursday highlighted by No. 3 South Carolina is at No. 22 Louisville at 7 p.m. (ESPN), No. 11 North Carolina is at No. 2 Texas at 7 p.m. (ESPN2), No. 5 LSU is at Duke at 9 p.m. (ESPN) and No. 18 Notre Dame is at No. 13 Ole Miss at 9 p.m. (ESPN2).

A two-day conference challenge series is also involved this week at the mid-major level Wednesday and Saturday between the Summit and Big Sky teams.

In regular games Army (6-2) under first-year coach Katie Kuester routed Saint Peter’s (1-6) on the road to a 65-43 win in Jersey City as Reese Ericson moved into second place insss program history with three pointers making five to total 207 and scored 15 points while Kya Smith had 17 points and 15 boards.

The Black Knights Saturday at noon host former A-10 member UMass (7-0) now in the Mid-American Conference. The game is on ESPN+.

Oregon (10-0), now in the Big Ten, hosted former Pac-12 in-state rival Oregon State (5-4), now in the West Coast Conference before heading back to a new-look Pac-12 next season, and cruised to a 96-73 victory as Katie Fisco had 23 points and 14 assists, while Mia Jacobs scored 21 with six boards.

Jenna Villa scored 27 for Oregon State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Princeton Gets Another Comeback Win Topping Seton Hall; Rider Snaps Five-Game Skid; UConn Trounces South Florida

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurus

Just two locals played Tuesday night, and both won with Princeton rallying at home in Jadwin Gym taking the opener of the New Jersey trio series over Seton Hall 82-78 while Rider (2-5) snapped a five-game losing streak by winning 58-43 at Long Island U. (4-3).

Princeton (8-1) in wins against quality opponents this season trails early and then plays a terrific fourth quarter to appear on top.

The pattern continued against Seton (4-1), which suffered its first loss.

The visiting Pirates took a 22-15 lead after the first quarter; the Tigers moved within two at the half, but Seton Hall moved to plus five at 65-60 going into the final ten minutes when Princeton outscored the opposition 22-13.

A layup by Olivia Hutcherson put Princeton ahead 70-69 with 6:15 left in regulation.

Several lead exchanges followed until Skye Belker’s shot from deep put Princeton up to stay 77-75 with just under four minutes left clinging to a narrow over that final span.

Belker, shooting 10-14 and 5-8 from beyond the arc, scored 26 points, Madison St. Rose scored 19 points shooting 6-11 from the field with nine rebounds, Ashley Chea was 4-7 from deep and 5-10 overall collecting 15 points with six assists, and Fadima Tall scored 12 points with six rebounds.

The Pirates’ Savannah Catalon was 8-15 from the field with three makes from deep for 24 points while Jada Eads and Mariana Valenzuela each scored 13 points with Eads grabbing  10 boards and Valenzuela accepting seven.

Princeton next visits Belmont in Tennessee Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) while Seton Hall Thursday opens Big East play hosting Butler in Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J., at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

Rutgers, the third school in the in-state series, is not on the Pirates’ schedule this season but visits Princeton next Wednesday.

Rider got 19 points from Emmy Roach, while Deb Okechukwu scored 12 off the bench with six rebounds, Kristina Ekofo scored 11 with five boards, Aina Perez Mesquida from Spain had 12 boards and six assists, and Aliya McIver grabbed 10 boards.

The Broncs next host Yale Saturday at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Locally Wednesday, Saint Joseph’s and La Salle get Atlantic 10 play under way, the Hawks host Rhode Island at 7 p.m. at Hagan Arena and the Explorers host VCU at their John E. Glaser Arena at 6:30 p.m. both on ESPN+.

Drexel hosts American at 6 p.m. (FloCollege) at the Daskalskis Athletic Center while Lehigh hosts Cornell at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., and Lafayette visits Northeast Conference champion FDU in Teaneck, N.J., at 7 p.m. on NEC Front Row.

The National Scene

Top-ranked UConn (8-0) returned to Tampa, Fla., the city of the Huskies’ 12th NCAA title last April and easily dominated South Florida (5-4) with an 85-51 victory.

The Huskies got 14 points and 10 boards against the Bulls, a former annual rival when UConn was also in the American Conference.

The winners were 32-63 for 51% from the floor.

Blanca Quinonez had 13 points and three makes from deep, while Azzi Fudd and Ashlynn Shade each scored 10 points.

USF was forced into 20 turnovers.

The Huskies next host DePaul Sunday at 1 p.m. on FS1 at the campus Gampel Pavilion in Storrs to open Big East play.

In the other game with a ranked team, No. 16 Southern Cal (6-2) at home in the Galen Center in Los Angeles cruised 79-33 over St. Mary’s (5-4) as Londynn Jones scored 17 points and Kara Dunn scored 15 points.

USC next hosts No. 21 Washington Sunday at 8 p.m. in a Big Ten opener on the conference network.

Wednesday is the start of the annual two-night ACC/SEC challenge while the challenge between Big Sky and Summit teams also gets under way with a second round Saturday.

Key games in the ACC/SEC series Wednesday have No. 15 Vanderbilt hosting Virginia at 5 p.m. (SECN), while at the same time No. 17 is at Miami (ESPN2), No. 9 Oklahoma hosts N.C. State at 7:15 p.m. (ESPN2), No. 19 Tennessee is at Stanford at 9:15 p.m. (ESPN2).

On Thursday, No. 3 South Carolina is at No. 22 Louisville at 7 p.m. (ESPN), No. 11 North Carolina is at No. 2 Texas at 7 p.m. (ESPN2), No. 5 LSU is at Duke at 9 p.m. (ESPN) and No. 18 Notre Dame is at No. 13 Ole Miss at 9 p.m. (ESPN2).

Locally, on Thursday, Penn hosts Maine at The Palestra at 6 p.m. (ESPN) and Villanova heads to the nation’s capital at the same time visiting Georgetown at 7 p.m. (Peacock).