The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Temple Tumbles to Tulane While No. 17 Texas Tech Still Unbeaten

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – When a team goes off the rails, media members awaiting the arrival of the coach for postgame comments and questions, including several dealing with an approaching deadline, can find the moment become a time for anxiety.

Back in her day, it was enough of an adventure after wins, let alone losses even more so, waiting for Hall of Fame Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer to appear.

On one such occasion after a home loss by the Scarlet Knights to Temple, the broadcast contingent from the Owls had made it back to their home in South Jersey before Stringer arrived, the wait considered an informal NCAA record by those who used to keep track.

There was also the time at Villanova that Muffet McGraw, the Hall of Fame coach and Saint Joseph’s graduate, had one of her superpower Notre Dame contingents get surprisingly bedeviled by Harry Perretta’s Wildcats that even had the legendary coach of the home team stunned with his team up double digits and significant minutes still existing on the clock.

McGraw afterwards went into her own game of monopoly going directly to the team bus without stopping at the media session.

A week later after the Irish had gotten back on the winning track and seeing a Philly writer at the game afterwards, McGraw smiled and commented, “Hi. I guess I missed you at ‘Nova last week.”

The mention of these days of yesteryear involving the two who have been longtime friends comes in the wake of Tuesday night ‘s 71-58 Temple (7-9, 1-3) loss here in the Liacouras Center to Tulane (7-10, 2-3) in an American Conference game that has the Owls quickly under water early on the league schedule.

Despite Temple’s performance against a Green Wave group that’s not exactly a tsunami this season, coach Diane Richardson took a media first approach, quickly arriving friendly and personable as always.

 With the early era of cookies and tea postgame in this sport long gone, Richardson opened offering a few comments that required a for mature readers only alert.

“That was a piss-poor performance,” she said calmly of what was the only local game on Tuesday’s card. In fact, the national card was also extremely light.

“It was terrible and not Temple basketball at all. It’s got to be fixed,” Richardson continued.

“We have to play hard, and each person has to step up and do what their job is and not look around for somebody else to do it. I think today, we just kind of sat back and looked around to see who else was gonna do something or, ‘It wasn’t my fault because she didn’t do this.’ That is not playing together, and we have to play together in this conference. This conference is no joke.”

Going to wast was Jaleesa Molina’s career night with 20 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Drew Alexander added 11 points while Kaylah Turner and Saniyah Craig each scored 10.

“They played harder and wanted it more,” Richardson said of Tulane, whose Kanija Daniel scored 19 points, Mecailin Marshall shooting 4-for-9 from deep, added 17 points, reserve Shiloh Kimpson collected 11 points and Dylan Hannah grabbed 10 rebounds.

Noted Richardson when asked of the moment Temple had fought back in the third period to take a one-point lead lasting 12 seconds before then losing control the rest of the way, she smiled and said, “Yes, but then we didn’t close it.”

Matters didn’t help either from beyond when preseason favorite South Florida (8-3, 4-1) won 70-53 over visiting UTSA (8-7, 3-1) in Tampa.

The conference is jumbled in front of the Owls enough, only Rice at 3-0 is perfect in early league play, that competing in the upper portion has paths but the first step in that direction must be taken Saturday when Temple visits East Carolina at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) before returning here Tuesday night to host South Florida at 7 p.m.

Locally on Wednesday, in Atlantic 10 action, La Salle hosts a morning game at 11 (ESPN+) at the John E. Glaser Arena trying to bounce back from Sunday’s loss at Saint Joseph’s, while the Hawks will try to make it two straight wins when they visit St. Bonaventure at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) in Olean, N.Y.

In the Patriot League, Lehigh hosts Boston U. at 6 p.m. at the Mountain Hawks’ Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while at the same time Lafayette visits Bucknell is Lewisburg, Pa., both airing on ESPN+.

In the Big Ten Penn State is at No. 14 Ohio State in Columbus at 6:30 p.m. on the subscription B1G+. The Lady Lions meet the Buckeyes still seeking their first conference win, something their next opponent and longtime rival visiting Rutgers on Sunday is also without.

The National Scene

Just two ranked games occurred on Tuesday and Monday, on Tuesday in the Big 12, No. 17 Texas Tech (19-0, 6-0) remained one of three teams unbeaten along with No. 1 UConn and No. 5 Vanderbilt after winning 71-59 over visiting Houston (6-11, 0-6) as Bailey Maupin, the reigning Big 12 and one of five USBWA players of the week, scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half, while Jalynn Bristow scored 14 points in the game in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Horned Frogs tied the program win-streak record at 19 and are one of three Big 12 teams to start the season 19-0, joining Baylor (40-0) the NCAA champion in 2011-12, and Nebraska (30-0), now in the Big Ten, in 2009-10.

It’s the first 6-0 Big 12 start since 2000-01.

Texas Tech next hosts Kansas State on Saturday.

On Monday, No. 21 Alabama (17-1, 3-1), which entered The Associated Press women’s poll, which is now 50 years old, earlier in the day for the first time this season, in the only overall game of note, won the Crimson Tide’s Southeastern Conference matchup 74-63 at Missouri (12-7, 0-4) in Columbia as Karly Weathers scored a career-high 23 points.

It’s Alabama’s best start in program history and next up is an in-state visit to Auburn on Thursday.

Another Tuesday games of note saw Georgetown (10-7, 3-5) at home in the nation’s capital beat St. John’s 59-34 in a Big East contest as Destiny Agubata scored 15 points with four boards for the winning Hoyas and Brooke Moore scored 11 for the Red Storm (14-5, 4-4).

On Wednesday, in the Big Ten, No. 3 UCLA is at Minnesota at 8 p.m. (B1G+) while in the Big 12 all on ESPN+, No. 10 TCU is at West Virginia at 7 p.m. in Morgantown, No. 18 Baylor is at Utah in Salt Lake City at 9 p.m., while at the same time No. 19 Iowa State, on a three-game skid, is at Colorado in Boulder.

In other games of note, Marquette is at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. in the Big East (ESPN+), Fairfield is at Marist at 11 a.m. in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (ESPN+) and Holy Cross is at Army at 5 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Patriot League.   

 

 

The Guru’s National NCAAW Roundup: LSU Upsets No. 2 Texas Leaving No. 1 UConn, No. 7 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Texas Tech as the Last Unbeatens

 By Mel Greenberg

And then there were three with presumptions of LSU’s demise in the Southeastern Conference premature.

That’s the headliner in another bunch of major results on the national scene.

Expect a major reshuffle when the new AP Poll is out Monday losses this past week were sustained by nine teams, including four of the bottom five in the Top 25.

No. 12 LSU, bumped out of the Top 5 last week after an 0-2 conference start in the New Year, came roaring back to hand previously unbeaten and No. 2 Texas it first loss winning 70-65 at home in Baton Rouge leaving just No. 1 UConn, the defending NCAA champion, No. 7 Vanderbilt, and No. 17 Texas Tech the remaining teams with perfect records.

No. 11 Iowa State’s Audi Crooks is still scoring in bunches, she had 22 points and 10 boards Sunday but the Cyclones after starting 14-0 lost their third straight in the Big 12 falling 83-70 to visiting West Virginia.

No. 21 Southern Cal is likely about to feel the effects of missing reigning national player of the year JuJu Watkins, rehabbing a torn ACL on her right knee in the NCAA tournament, despite the addition of freshman Jazzy Davidson.

The Trojans, ripped apart at No. 4 UCLA last Saturday in which afterwards coach Lindsay Gottlieb termed the outcome an embarrassment, made it three straight losses, at home last Tuesday 71-66 to Oregon and Sunday clipped by one 63-62 at Minnesota in the Big Ten, a setback likely to end a lengthy run Monday at noon when the new Associated Press women’s poll, celebrating is 50th anniversary season, is released.

That fate happened last week to Notre Dame after two losses to unranked Atlantic Coast Conference teams but on Sunday the fighting Irish made a bid to get back taking down visiting No. 22 North Carolina 73-50, a loss that could also see the Tar Heels sent packing.

And the Big Ten had more upsets than just the loss by USC.

No. 19 Ohio State, which has been surging, slammed No. 8 Maryland on the road 89-76 at the XFINITY Center in College Park, while No. 23 Washington fell 78-72 at unranked Purdue in overtime in West Lafayette, Ind.

No. 15 Michigan State narrowly avoided the victims list of ranked teams in the Big Ten, winning 85-81 at Oregon, while likewise the same went for No. 14 Iowa winning 56-53 at Indiana.

And by ranking number in the SEC it’s an upset with No. 6 Kentucky slipping past visiting No. 5 Oklahoma 63-57 but both are likely to slip by being bypassed by Vanderbilt, which stayed perfect winning 91-51 in the SEC at Texas A&M.

Tonie Morgan scored 21 for the winning Wildcats (15-2, 3-1), yet another team coming back from a double digit deficit, while Clara Strack added 18 points and 12 boards.

Alaliyah Chavez led the Sooners (14-3, 2-2) with 18 points and Raegan Beers scored 14, playing with foul trouble, while Payton Verhulst scored 13.Thee

No. 10 Louisville with a lopsided 86-46 win the ACC over visiting Pitt is also likely to do some poll climbing.

By conference, the remaining ranked teams that did not have to break much of a sweat were in the SEC, No. 3 South Carolina, likely to get back to No. 2 after winning 65-43 over winning Georgia; No. 18 Ole Miss with an in-state 58-42 win over visiting Mississippi State in Oxford; No. 20 Tennessee 85-50 over visiting Arkansas in Knoxville.

In the Big 12, No. 16 Baylor beat visiting Kansas in Waco 79-64 while No. 13 TCU hit visiting Arizona State 77-46 with the Sun Devil’s second loss in Fort Worth, Texas, around a win after the Sun Devils tied an overall program win streak record with a 15-0 start.

In the Big Ten, No. 9 Michigan won easily at home in Ann Arbor over Wisconsin 86-60 while the last game of importance Sunday in the early  evening saw  No. 4 UCLA at No. 25 Nebraska win easily 83-61 in Lincoln to keep pace with the national frontrunners.

There were some unranked games of note, also, specifically in the ACC Duke winning its eighth straight with a 67-60 win at Stanford as the Blue Devils (11-6, 6-0) got 19 points from Delaney Thomas, 16 from Toby Fournier, and 14 from Ashlon Jackson.

Nunu Agara had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the host Cardinal (14-4, 3-2).

LSU Stuns Texas

But let’s start digesting all that beginning in Austin where the Longhorns rallied but could not overcome the Tigers (16-2, 2-2), who had their first win over an AP Top 2 team since 2008, when retired Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor was guiding the team.

LSU’s Mikaylah Williams scored 20 points with 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists, while fou teammates each collected 10 points.

Williams, talking to ESPN, said, “We knew in those last games that we lost that we beat ourselves. We wanted to take care of the ball, be disciplined,  box out, rebound.

“That’s what we did. Down the stretch, we stayed together.”

Texas (18-1, 3-1) committed a season high 17 turnovers, six by Madison Booker, who had 24 points and seven boards, while Kyla Oldacre had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Rori Harmon was held to 1-for-7 from the field for just two points.

In the week ago, Texas, which gave South Carolina at the finish its only loss in a non-conference game in early November, visits the Gamecocks Thursday while LSU is off until visiting Oklahoma Sunday.

The Tigers and Longhorns meet again in Austin on Feb. 5.

Still Perfect

No. 1 UConn (17-0, 8-0) continues to roll, blasting host Creighton 95-54 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sarah Strong had 18 points and 13 rebounds with six assists and five steals against the Bluejays (7-9, 3-4), while reserve freshman Blanca Quinonez scored 15 points, Azzi Fudd collected 14 points and dealt five assists, and Ashlynn Shade was 4-for-4 from deep for 12 points.

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma’s all-time coaching win record for NCAA women or men grew to 1267.

Creighton freshman Ava Zediker scored 21 of her 24 points in the second half.

Not even 21 turnovers could derail the Huskies, who have won 55 straight Big East contests.

Next up is Villanova’s visit Thursday.

Vanderbilt (17-0, 4-0) equaled the best start in the program’s history by winning 91-51 at Texas A&M (8-5, 1-3) at College Station as Mikayla Blakes scored 25 points and Justine Pissott added 22 for the Commodores who were last 17-0 in 1993 when they went to the Final Four.

It’s also the first 4-0 SEC start in 17 years for Vanderbilt, which has been coached for several seasons by former UConn star and assistant coach Shea Ralph.

The Aggies were forced into 25 turnovers.

Vandy visits Mississippi State in Starkville on Thursday while Texas A&M is at Texas Sunday following the Longhorns’ return from their South Carolina visit.

Texas Tech won its game Saturday and is having its best season since the same Final Four Red Raiders team of 1993 that Vanderbilt was one of the semifinalists.

Slumping Iowa State

Not only are the Cyclones (14-3, 2-3) in a losing streak but another setback has come at home in Ames as West Virginia (14-3, 4-1) got 25 points from Kierra Wheeler and Jordan Harrison scored scored 19.

Wheeler shot 10-for-18 from the field with 5-for-7 at the line and seven boards while Harrison dealt eight dimes, grabbed seven steals and five boards.

The Mountaineers get a chance to bag another ranked team Wednesday visiting TCU while Iowa State the same night will try to snap out of its funk at the expense of Colorado.

Big Ten Chaos

In Sunday’s carnage, beginning at Minnesota (12-4, 3-2), Grace Grocholski scored 25 points for the Golden Gophers, who rode the lane at the finish for their first ranked win since 2019.

The Trojans’ Kara Dunn had eight points in the final 31 seconds including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish with 27 points, including USC’s entire 14 in the final period.

Davidson had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (10-6, 2-3), who blew a 12-point lead and next are back in Los Angeles hosting Maryland Thursday.

The Terrapins (16-2, 4-2) were led by Oluchi Okananwa with 27 points, including her 1,000th, while the Buckeyes (15-2, 5-1), whose only losses were to UConn and UCLA, had another big game from Jaloni Cambridge, who followed up her 41-point performance against Illinois with 28 against Maryland.

The Buckeyes were down early trailing by 15 in the second quarter before moving within  a point at the break.

A 13-2 run in the final quarter carried Ohio State from a one-point lead to the win.

Ohio State hosts Penn State Wednesday.

Purdue (10-7, 2-4) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second quarter to down Washington (12-4, 2-3) as Tara Daye and Madison Layden-Zay each scored 19 points for the host Boilermakers who also thrived off Lana McCarthy’s second career double-double (14 pts., 12 rebs.), while the visiting Huskies got 23 points from Sayvia Sellers and double figures from three other players.

Washington is at Indiana Wednesday and Purdue is at Southern Cal Sunday.

In the two near upsets in the conference, Michigan State (16-1, 5-1) rallied from a double digit deficit in the first half led by Rashunda Jones with 23 points for the Spartan’s eighth straight win. Grace VanSlooten added 16 points while the Ducks (14-4, 2-3) got 20 points from Katie Fiso with nine assists and Sofia Bell and Mia Jacobs each scored 18 points.

Michigan State hosts Nebraska Thursday while Oregon on the same night is at Iowa (14-2, 5-0), which, in its escape, rallied from a 16-point deficit at the half to down Indiana (11-7, 0-6), which is also winless in the conference with Penn State and Rutgers.

Ava Heiden and Chazadi Wright each scored 13 points for the winning Hawkeyes, who had a big third quarter outscoring the Hoosiers 19-4.

Penn State transfer Shay Ciezki scored 21 for Indiana.

In the blowouts, Olivia Olson had 21 points, while Te’Yala Defosse and Mila Holloway each scored 18 points for Michigan in its 86-60 win over Wisconsin, while No. 4 UCLA (15-1, 5-0), whose only loss was to Texas in early November, got 18 points and 10 boards from Lauren Betts, along with four blocked shots and five steals while five other UCLA players also scored in double figures.

Nebraska (14-3, 3-3) was led by Amilia Hargrove with 12 points.

UCLA is at Minnesota Wednesday and Nebraska is at Michigan State Thursday.

Elsewhere, South Jersey’s Hanna Hidalgo has 31 points to lead Notre Dame (12-4, 4-2) over UNC (13-5, 2-3) while Cassandre Prosper had 17 points and 14 boards.

It was Hidalgo’s 14th career 30+ game.

Nyla Harris scored 14 points in the Tar Heels’ lowest scoring game of the season.

At halftime, the Fighting Irish celebrated their first NCAA title in 2001 coached by Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw and featuring MVP Ruth Riley and current coach Niele Ivey.

Louisville got a career-best 16 points from Anaya Hardy in its win, Madina Okot had 14 points and 10 boards while Joyce Edwards also scored 14 for South Carolina, Tennessee in its fifth straight win got 20 points from Zee Sparman and 18 from freshman Mia Pauldo, Baylor’s Taliah Scott scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half, TCU’s leading home win streak reached 36 as Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles scored 22, and Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon scored 21 and Sira Thienou scored 20 for Ole Miss.

The Guru’s Local NCAAW Roundup: Drexel Takes First CAA Win Routing Hofstra Like Villanova Does in the Big East at Providence But Rutgers and Penn State Are Still Winless on the Big Ten Slate

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – Drexel finally broke into the win column in Coastal Athletic Association competition Sunday afternoon after two early losses beating Hofstra 67-38 at home here at the Daskalakis Athletic Center while up north in the Big East Villanova avoid a thorn experience in the long-running series with Providence picking up a lopsided 85-55 road win on the Friars to ensure staying in second place through the Wildcats’ Thursday trip to No. 1 and defending NCAA champion UConn.

Things did not go as well for the two other locals, the Big Ten duo of Rutgers and Penn State who did not have to deal with ranked opponents in the conference and still failed to pick up wins against league rivals.

Rutgers (8-9, 0-6) trailed Northwestern (7-10, 1-5) by only nine at the half in the road game in Evanston, Ill., but then the host Wildcats surged the rest of the way to a 73-54 victory as the Scarlet Knights dropped below .500 overall at 8-9.

Penn State (7-10, 0-6) meanwhile at home using the larger Bryce Jordan Center rather than the throwback to Rec Hall being used a large portion of the season, was down just a point at the half at 21-20 to Illinois (14-3, 4-2) but then the Illinois also powered away gaining a 92-76 victory.

The two outcomes enabled Northwestern, whose longtime coach and Father Judge grad Joe McKeown announced his pending retirement ahead of the season, to climb out of the conference basement leaving Rutgers and Penn State tied at the bottom where they were most of last season.

In the game here Drexel (8-6, 1-2) coming off a narrow loss Friday night at Stony Brook jumped out to a 12-1 lead on Hofstra (8-6, 1-2) and cruised the rest of the way.

Deja Evans tied a season-high with 20 points also achieved in Friday night’s loss to the Seawolves along with seven rebounds while Amaris Baker scored 14 and Grace O’Neill dealt six assists.

The Pride’s Sandra Magolico with 10 points and 111 boards was the only opponent player reaching double figures.

The differential was the largest for Drexel against a CAA opponent in close to four seasons dating to February 2022.

“Today we came back ready to show what we’re capable of doing,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “Getting 40 points in the paint (40-18) and 19 off the bench is going to be really important for us.”

Drexel next off to a two-game weekend road trip starts with a visit Friday at front-running Charleston (12-3, 4-0) at 7 p.m. Friday night (FloCollege) before stopping at UNCW next Sunday.

“We’re only going to get one shot at Charleston,” Mallon said of the importance needing to keep Friday’s opponent close to the rest of the CAA pursuers.

Evans, an Archbishop Wood grad and native of Conshohocken, who came back from UAlbany by way of the portal, said of her weekend outbreak, “Honestly, just all the confidence my teammates and coaches have instilled in me.

“And also playing defense.”

Villanova (14-3, 7-1), meanwhile, following last weekend’s stumble at Marquette, has put together consecutive high-octane efforts beginning with last Thursday’s home win over Xavier leading to Sunday’s rout of the Friars (9-9, 2-5).

The Wildcats brought the pressure early jumping to a 9-0 lead, getting 11 points off seven turnovers by the opposition, and finishing the period up 24-14 helped by shooting 4-for-8 from distance.

Brynn McCurry, the MVP of the Big 5 Classic championship won by Villanova at home over Saint Joseph’s early last month, scored 20 in this one, shooting 9-for-11 from the field, while Jasmine Bascoe scored 19 points and dealt seven assists, Ryanne Allen scored 14 points and Kelsey Joens scored 11 points.

Thursday’s game at Connecticut on campus tips off at 7 p.m.

Back in the local portion of the Big Ten, Rutgers, which was outscored 34-23 in the second half by Northwestern, got 11 points each from Lauryn Swann and Faith Blackstone, while Nene Ndiaye and Zachara Perkins each scored 10.

Antonia Bates grabbed nine boards.

The winless conference drought among the two longtime conference rivals dating back to membership in the outset of the Atlantic 10 will end for one of them with Rutgers next traveling to Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Nittany Lions first have to deal with a Wednesday visit to No. 19 Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. on B1G+.

In Sunday’s loss to the Illini, a 24-point, seven-rebound effort from Gracie Merkle off shooting 8-for-12 from the field went to waste, while the same was likewise for Rutgers transfer Kiyomi McMiller, who scored 19 points.

Moriah Murray got all nine of her points off a trio of made 3-pointers.

Illinois was able to negate most of the production as Berry Wallace was 11-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep, for 28 points and off the bench Maddie Webber, a transfer from last season’s Villanova team, sizzled going 5-for-8 from distance and 10-for-15 overall to collect 26 points.

The local schedule is dark Monday and the only game among the 13 D-1 group Tuesday has Temple trying to bounce back from Saturday’s loss at Tulsa, hosting Tulane in an American Conference game at the Liacouras Center at 7 p.m.