The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Villanova’s 10-Game Win Streak Ends at Marquette as Locals Are 0-5; No. 12 Vanderbilt Hands No. 5 LSU Its 2nd Straight Loss While No. 22 Baylor Edges No. 10 Iowa State
By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA – In assortment of ways here at Drexel and in four other local games it was wipeout Sunday with all five teams going down to defeat.
Nationally, more unbeaten teams continued to part with their perfect records reducing the total remaining to just four and when the 50th anniversary season of the Associated Press women’s poll resumes Monday at noon with the latest rankings after a rare week’s hiatus due to just one day of games at the end of the Christmas break there will be a major change within the Top 10 after half suffered losses since the arrival of 2026 on Thursday.
As for the local part of the roundup first, Drexel, which had a bye Friday on the opening night of of Coastal Athletic Association play extending the Dragons’ time off from their last action, hosting the Campbell Camels Sunday afternoon, the home team in the Daskalakis Athletic Center could not get over the hump from an early deficit and lost 62-51.
The visitors (8-7, 1-1) dominated the paint 22-16 and the boards 35-26 as Campbell’s Olivia Tucker scored 18 points, and Jasmine Nivar and Gianni Boone each scored 15 points.
Drexel led by Amaris Baker with 22 points struggled elsewhere to score with Molly Rullo, the other Dragon in double figures with 12 points, but Deja Evans was held to just four points and Laine McGurk seven.
The Camels answered every time the Dragons rallied close over a long haul in which Drexel would avoid going down in deep double digits but then could not finish the job moving within the lead.
“Obviously, disappointed with the loss, we knew it was going to be a battle but a lot to learn before our next games,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon, whose team is at Stony Brook on Long Island Friday night and then returns here Sunday hosting Hofstra next weekend.
Rullo, a freshman guard from Cardinal O’Hara, made her first career start.
“One of the reasons she’s in that lineup now, is she’s showing she’s capable of scoring for us,” Mallon said. “She showed today she’s capable of stepping up and taking shots when we need her.”
Elsewhere, Villanova’s 10-game winning streak came to a surprising end as the Wildcats (12-3, 5-1) suffered their first loss in the Big East falling 85-69 at Marquette (10-5, 4-2) in Milwaukee.
The visitors went nine down at 23-14 after the first period, got three points closer by the half, then suffered a 10-point 19-9 deficit to the Golden Eagles in the third before playing even over the final 10 minutes.
Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe scored 20 points, Kennedy Henry scored 15 and reserve Dani Ceseretti had a career-high 12 points with five rebounds and four assists.
Marquette’s attack was explosive with Halle Vice scoring a career-high 32 points with 11 rebounds, while Jaidynn Mason and Skylar Forbes each scored 20 points.
Villanova comes home for the annual Education Day game Thursday at 11:30 a.m. hosting Xavier at Finneran Pavilion.
In the Big Ten, Rutgers (8-7, 0-4) lost on the road to No. 19 Ohio State 71-49 in Columbus as the Buckeyes (13-2, 3-1) pulled away in the second half.
Jaloni Cambridge had 18 points for the winners, who also got 17 from Chance Gray while Elsa Lemmila had 10 points and 11 boards for the sophomore’s second career double double.
Rutgers’ Faith Blackstone scored 15 points and Imani Lester scored 14.
The Scarlet Knights host No. 7 Maryland on Thursday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J. at 7 p.m.
Penn State (7-8, 0-4), meanwhile, who has struggled to win in the Big Ten all last season and early in the current one fell just a point short at Wisconsin losing 74-73 to the Badgers (11-4, 3-1) in Madison.
Rutgers transfer Kiyomi McMiller scored a career-high 36 points for the visiting Lady Lions, making 3-of-4 from deep, while Gracie Merkle scored 12 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field.
Amiya Evans grabbed 12 rebounds.
Penn State got within a point at the end on McMiller’s three-pointer with two seconds left.
Next up is a visit Thursday from No. 6 Michigan, whose ranking number will have changed Monday off the upset loss at Washington, in Rec Hall at 6 p.m. on the B1G+ streaming the game at University Park.
Delaware (6-8, 0-2) did one point better in regulation than Penn State in terms of score differential but that was only good enough to get into overtime where the Blue Hens fell 64-57 at New Mexico State (5-9, 1-1) and finished getting swept their debut weekend in Conference USA occurring on the road.
Ande’a Cherisier had 12 points and 11 boards for Delaware, Trinity Vance scored 11, and Safi Kolliegbo scored 10.
Next up comes a visit for the Blue Hens’ home debut in CUSA at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) from Louisiana Tech.
None of the 13 locals are scheduled Monday and just Temple is playing Tuesday, visiting Wichita State trying to even the early American Conference slate at 1-1.
The National Scene
The early fireworks with the plunge into conference play that occurred with the arrival of 2026 on Thursday continued Sunday, especially in the SEC and Big 12 though below the Top 10 the ACC also had a few highlights.
In the SEC, No. 5 LSU, which had been putting up triple digit on weak non-conference opponents, suffered its second straight loss, after a home buzzer-beater to No. 11 Kentucky, the Tigers (14-2, 0-2) were held to their lowest scoring total on the season, falling 65-61 to No. 12 Vanderbilt (15-0, 2-0) in Nashville, an outcome likely to send both teams who pulled upsets into the Top 10 for the first time in a while when the new poll comes out at noon Monday.
It’s the first Top 5 win for Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph, the former UConn star who served a long stint with a brief stop at Pittsburgh, on Geno Auriemma’s staff at her alma mater.
Mikayla Blakes from Sommerville, N.J., the central area of the state, scored 32 points and the tight game went into the Commodores’ permanent control on freshman Aubrey Galvan’s three-pointer with 2:05 left in regulation.
The 1992-93 Vandy team guided by now retired coach Jim Foster, the only coach to land four teams in the Associated Press women’s poll in its 50-year history with Saint Joseph’s, Ohio State, and Chattanooga the other three, is the only one at 17-0 with a better start than the current edition.
The game was the first Top 15 game in Nashville outside a Final Four since 2006-07.
“We said in the locker room we’re not going to fear anybody … I took that personally,” Blakes said on the postgame telecast interview.
Besides Ralph, Princeton coach Carla Berube is a second former UConn star with a team in the current rankings, the only Ivy to ever get ranked first done by Courtney Banghart now at North Carolina.
The other three unbeaten teams are defending champion and No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Texas, No. 21 Texas Tech and Vanderbilt, which seemed headed off the list when LSU went up 49-42 in the fourth quarter, but the Commodores answered with an 8-0 run to get back into contention.
Galvan had 14 points and following Vanderbilt’s final point off a foul shot from Blakes, LSU missed three shots before time expired.
Flau’jae Johnson was 0-for-4 from the field and scoreless for LSU for the first time this season. Jada Richard and MiLaysia Fulwiley, the South Carolina transfer, each scored 13, Mikaylah Williams scored 12, and ZaKiyah Johnson scored 10.
On Thursday, LSU is at Georgia, which recently lost its unbeaten status, while Vanderbilt hosts Missouri.
In another SEC game, No. 2 Texas (17-0, 2-0) narrowly escaped becoming an upset victim at home in Austin, winning 67-64 over Ole Miss (14-3, 1-1), which launched a big rally that fell short.
Jordan Lee for the winning Longhorns scored 17 with a key layup and foul shot late in the game.
Texas had been up by 19 early in the third period and 15 at the end before Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon scored 12 of her 19 points in the final period for the Rebels, who also got eight of Latasha Lattimore’s 17 points.
But McMahon with 4.3 seconds left missed a pair of foul shots to make it closer, then with one second Rori Harmon missed a pair for Texas and McMahon’s long three attempts bounced off the rim.
It’s Texas’ best start since 1985-86 when the Longhorns became the first NCAA unbeaten champion at 34-0. The Longhorns are on a 35-0 home win streak.
The Longhorns blew most of their big lead by missing 8 of 13 from the field in the final period and committing six turnovers and seven fouls.
Harmon had 10 assists in the game but also committed five turnovers.
Ole Miss is at No. 8 Oklahoma on Thursday the same night Texas hosts Auburn.
No. 10 Iowa State (14-1, 2-1) over in the Big 12 got another huge game from Audi Crooks but not huge enough, snapping her string of five straight 30+ games scoring 26 but held to four in the second half while No. 22 Baylor in the road game at Ames after the home team tied it on Jada Williams’ 3-pointer let the clock run down and then a screen from Kiersten Johnson got Taliah Scott a wide-open shot from the left and she scored 2.9 seconds left to give the Bears (13-3, 2-1) a 72-70 upset.
Scott scored all 21 of her points in the second half.
Baylor’s Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 13 points, 12 early, but matched a career-high with 20 rebounds while reserve Yutin Deng scored 12 and Jane Van Gytenbeek scored 11.
The Bears next welcome Colorado on Thursday and Iowa State is at Cincinnati Wednesday.
In the ACC, Duke (9-6, 4-0), No. 7 in the preseason poll before losing the first week to Baylor and dropping out within two more weeks, from the outside looking in won its sixth straight upsetting No. 18 Notre Dame 82-68 at home at Cameron Indoor Arena in Durham. N.C., as Taina Mair scored 23 for the Blue Devils, while Toby Fournier scored 20 against the Fighting Irish (10-4, 2-2).
South Jersey’s Hannah Hildalgo had 22 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists with three steals for Notre Dame (10-4, 2-2) which dropped its second straight to an unranked team, losing previously in overtime at Georgia Tech.
The Fighting Irish host Boston College in South Bend, Ind., Thursday, the same night Duke goes West to play Cal.
In another ACC game, Stanford, which started the season with the second most appearances in the AP poll behind Tennessee but has now slipped to fourth behind UConn and Texas, upset No. 16 North Carolina in overtime on the road, winning 77-71 in Chapel Hill, N.C., as Courtney Ogden scored 21 for the Cardinal (13-3, 2-1) and Chloe Clardy added four key points in the extra period.
Lara Somfai scored 13 and Clardy had 12 points for Stanford, which also got 10 from Alexandra Eschmeyer.
Nyla Harris scored 18 for the host Tar Heels (13-4, 2-2) while Ciera Toomey scored 16 and Elina Aarnisalo collected 12 points.
Stanford greets Wake Forest on Thursday while North Carolina is off until Sunday’s visit to Notre Dame.
The remaining ranked teams on Sunday’s big national slate all won.
In the SEC, No. 2 South Carolina (15-1, 2-0) won its 18th straight over Florida, beating the Gators 74-63 in Gainesville as Raven Johnson scored 17 points and Joyce Edwards had seven of her 11 points in the final period and completed a double double with 10 rebounds.
Florida State transfer Ta’Niya Latson, who led the nation in scoring, missed her second straight game with the winning Gamecocks, who committed 21 turnovers.
Liv McGill scored 18 for Florida (12-5, 0-2).
South Carolina next is at Arkansas Thursday.
No. 11 Kentucky (15-1, 2-0) got 19 points from Clara Strack with 10 rebounds while Tonie Morgan added 18 points and 14 assists in a 74-52 win over visiting Missouri and next is at Alabama Thursday.
Penn transfer Jordan Obio had 10 points for the winning Wildcats.
No. 8 Oklahoma (14-1, 2-0) at home in Norman cruised 95-47 over Mississippi State as Aaliyah Chavez scored 17 points and Zya Vann added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Raegan Beers added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Sooners, whose 13-game win streak is the second longest in the program behind the 20 from the 2008-09 team.
Oklahoma on Thursday hosts No. 15 Ole Miss.
No. 23 Tennessee (10-3, 2-0) on the road at Auburn won 73-56 getting 18 points from Talaysia Cooper while Janiah Barker scored 17 with eight boards and three blocked shots.
The Lady Vols, who committed 25 turnovers in the win, are at Mississippi State Thursday night.
Back in the ACC, No. 17 Louisville (14-3, 4-0) got 18 points and nine boards from Saint Joseph’s transfer Laura Ziegler in an 85-60 win at home over Virginia Tech and next plays Miami Thursday.
In the Big Ten, No. 7 Maryland (15-1, 3-1) at home in College Park bounced off its narrow loss at Washington to fall from the unbeaten column to beating Indiana 82-67 as Oluchi Okananwa had a career-high 34 points.
The Terrapins, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of their 2006 NCAA title win over Duke before the game, next is at Rutgers Thursday night.
No. 24 Michigan State (14-1, 3-1) at home in East Lansing snapped Illinois’ 11-game win streak with a narrow 81-75 triumph as Kennedy Blair scored 19 points, Rashunda Jones and Grace VanSlooten each scored 15 points.
Berry Wallace and reserve Maddie Webber each scored 22 for Illinois (13-2, 3-1), which hosts Ohio State on Wednesday while Michigan State is at Washington on Thursday.
No. 20 Nebraska (13-2, 2-2) easily won 78-62 at Purdue (8-7, 0-4) in West Lafayette, Ind., as Britt Prince had four makes from deep for most of her 17 points for the Huskers while Amiah Hargrove and Eliza Maupin each scored 13 for the visitors who next host Indiana on Thursday.
In the CAA, Stony Brook went 19-3 in overtime for a road win 73-57 at defending conference tournament champion William & Mary.
Belmont at home topped Illinois State 75-68 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In the West Coast Conference, Santa Clara at home upset Gonzaga 77-73, while Washington State won 73-69 at Seattle.
On Monday in the Big Ten, No. 6 Michigan coming out of its first loss hosts Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, while No. 14 Iowa visits Northwestern at 8:30 p.m. in the second game of the conference doubleheader on the network.
