Philly Summer League: Forfeiit Gives Hunter Green Top Seed While Kelly Green Wins Last Slot

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. -- The situation is somewhat different than the previous two summers but with a change of teams and a new role as player-coach, former Saint Joseph's star Katie Kuester is right where she has been in the recent past heading into the eight-team playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

Though Kuester's Hunter Green squad (11-1) was expected to win easily in Tuesday night's regular season final against 13th and last place Royal Blue (1-11), the result came even quicker than expected in the 7 p.m. contest when Royal Blue failed to field enough players within the 15-minutes grace for late arrivals and suffered its third forfeit loss.

Forfeits are not unusual in the league across the 12-game schedules from mid-June through the end of July but Royal Blue was involved on the losing end of all three forfeits recorded by the league.

Unlike the past two summers, Kuester will not go into the postseason unbeaten with a loss to third-place Gold putting a blot on the run and enabling White (11-1) to tie for the regular season crown after beating the Division II Philadelphia University Black squad 82-52 Tuesday as former Bethune-Cookman star Jasmine Elum scored 22 points and former Holy Family star Catherine Carr scored 20, helped by hitting four three-pointers.

Hunter Green's head-to-head win over White, coming after the upset loss earlier in the season, enabled the triumph to be the difference in determining the No. 1 seed.

The loss knocked Black (4-8) out of a tie with Kelly Green -- Black owned the head-to-head win. Rams junior Monica Shacker had nine points against White, sophomore Mary Newell and former Phila. U. star Samantha Morris each scored eight points and sophomore Jacqueline McCarron scored seven points.

Seven teams qualified for the field prior to Tuesday but Kelly Green (5-7), dominated by Division II Holy Family, took the last spot, breaking out of its tie with Black as Erin Fenningham, a Tigers sophomore, scored a game-high 16 points in the 62-54 win over Orange (2-10), which had previously won its only two games of the season.

Carolyne Heston, a Tigers senior, scored 14 points for Kelly Green, Calypso Carty, an incoming freshman at Utica in upstate New York, scored 12 points, and MaryEllen McCollum, a Tigers junior, scored nine points.

Orange completed its season in 11th place as Shea Wassel, a junior at York College, scored 12 points, Helen Gemmell, a sophomore at Division II East Stroudsburg scored 11, Devin Gold, a junior at Division II Caldwell College, and Melissa Poderis, a sophomore at ESU, each scored nine points, and Courtney Brown, an incoming ESU freshman, scored eight points.

Kelly Green will open play against Hunter Green in the quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m. on Court 1.

The upset of the night came from the surprise team of the season in Red, which upset Gold 55-49 to move into a tie with idle Maroon for fourth.

Gold was assured of third seed win or lose though two f the 12 pre-night scenarios gave the team a chance to finish with the second seed or in a three-way tie for first.

Red (8-4), dominated on the roster by Division III Scranton, avoided a tie for fifth with the win but loses out on the tie-break for fourth seed off a loss to Maroon (8-4), dominated by Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, which was serving the last of the 13 byes each team in the league had.

The jockeying, though, is a bit academic because Red was on course to meet Maroon again Thursday in a 4-5 quarterfinal game at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2 at 8:15 p.m.

In Red's win over Gold, Emily Homan, a Lafayette junior, had 16 points, Lindsay Fluehr, a Scranton junior, had 13 points, and Royals sophomore Jaclyn Glantz scored 10 points.

Gold, whose coach Ted Hagedorn won the previous two summer league titles with other teams, got 12 points from Saint Joseph's sophomore Sarah Fairbanks and 11 from her Hawks junior teammate Natasha Cloud.

On one of the more plentiful nights in the league in terms of individuals scoring 20 or more points, five hit the mark clustered around two games.

Besides the performances of White's Elum and Carr in the win over Black, the other three got their totals in the game between Sky Blue (6-6), the Division II-dominated West Chester group which finished at .500 and locked up the seventh seed, and Navy Blue (3-9), which finished in a tie for 10th with Heather Grey and earned the 10th place slot off a head-to-head win.

Navy Blue had a chance for the playoffs potentially with a win and help elsewhere.

But Sky Blue ended those hopes, triumphing 81-69 as West Chester sophomore Brittany Sicinski scored 23 points, enabling her to tie Saint Joseph's senior Erin Shields with five nights each in the 20 or more points category.

Shields might have been able to get numer six had she not gotten an unexpected night off when Royal Blue forfeited to Hunter Green.

Jasmen Clark, a Golden Rams junior, scored 17 for Sky Blue, Anna Kuntz, a West Chester sophomore, scored 15 points, Taylor Bryant, who was enrolled at Delaware but did not play for the Blue Hens, scored 12 point as did Golden Rams junior Kendall Benovy.

Sky Blue's quarterfinal game will be against White at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1.

In a rarity two 20-point performances came on the losing side with a pair of Saint Joseph's stars hitting the mark for Navy Blue. Incoming Hawks freshman Geena Gomez scored 23 points, while sophomore Ciarra Andrews scored 20. Daphne Ginn, a Stevens Tech freshman, scored 13 points and Hawks sophomore Kelsey Berger matched the 13.

In all 36 players scored 20 or more points in a single game with the season high coming from Lehigh sophomore Kerry Kinek scoring 32 with Heather Grey.

After Shields and Sicinski gettting multiple performances of five each, Navy Blue's Andrews had four, Kinek and Liz Sharlow, her Lehigh sophomore classmate, who is on Purple, had three each, and White's Elum and Carr did it twice.

In the night's other game Purple (7-5) claimed the sixth seed with a 55-43 win over Heather Grey (3-9), which finished in a tie for 10th with Navy Blue and the 11th slot.

Purple, which will open Thursday at 7 p.m. on Court 2 against Gold, got 18 points from Megan Gallagher, a DeSales senior, while Alyssa Isler, a Division III Gettysburg senior, scored 13, and Jessica Porter, a Gettysburg sophomore, scored 12.

Kathryn Stockbower, a former Swarthmore star who holds the NCAA Division III career record for double doubles, scored 16 points for Heather Grey.

Playoffs Quarterfinals Preview

Kelly Green vs. Hunter Green

If the regular season game they played is any indication, don't let the seeding numbers matching No. 8 Kelly Green (5-7) against No. 1 Hunter Green (11-1) in a quarterfinals opener at 7 p.m. on Court 1 give you the wrong impression.

Kelly Green gave Hunter Green all they could handle before the league frontrunner pulled out a 68-64 win on June 27.

And remember, several years ago the Holy Family contingent made the league finals before a Katie Kuester squad swept what was then a best-of-three championship round.

Now Kuester is in her first go-round as a player-coach and things haven't changed much from when she was just a player.

And of course Hunter Green has the three Shields sisters bolstering the offense in Saint Joseph's senior Erin, who has hit 20 or more points five nights this summer, recent Boston College grad Kerri, and University of San Diego sophomore Shannon.

Hunter Green has been rolling since its early lose to Gold, it's sole setback of the season, while Kelly Green shook off its loss to Black, aka, Philadelphia University, its winter D-2 local Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference rival, to take advantage of the schedule by beating 13th place Royal Blue and 12th place Orange.

Black had the misfortune of meeting the better teams down the stetch.

In the regular season meeting, Kuester had 14 points, Dickinson graduate Brooke Muller had 13 points, and Kerri Shields had 10, one of the few times Erin did not light up the basket.

Kelly Green got 18 points from Carolyne Heston, Erin Mann scored 11, Magggie Serratelli scored 10, incoming freshman Yasmin Walker scored nine, and Brittany Wood, a Division III Delaware Valley junior, also scored nine points.

Red vs. Maroon

The No. 4 Maroon (8-4) ans No. 5 Red (8-4) matchup on Court 2 at 8:15 offers two teams that have similarities in their season profiles beyond their won-loss records.

Both got under way in June with shaky starts, Maroon going 1-3 until a July 2 second win over Red before a break for the holiday launched a 7-1 run the rest of the way.

That narrow 61-57 loss by Red, however, brought hope things were about to get better and they have with a seven-game win streak after Tuesday's upset of No. 3 Gold in the regular season finale.

In the game on July 2, Camille McPherson, a University of the Sciences of Philadelphia newer star, had 20 points, Devils standout Brianne Traub scored 14 points, and recent Holy Cross graduate Kaitlin Cole scored 10 points.

Red got 11 points from Lafayette's Emily Homan, 10 from Assumption senior Jamie Insel, and eight from Scranton junior Stephanie Keyes.

White vs. Sky Blue

Other than the loss to top-seed Hunter Green, White (11-1) has been on it's game, though shaky at times, most of the way while the seventh-seeed Sky Blue (6-6) have been up and down heading into Thursday night's re-match at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1.

When they met recently on July 23, White's Emily Leer, an incoming Villanova junior, had a season-high 21 points while Jasmine Elum had 10 points in a 66-49 win.

White was able stop Brittany Sicinski from going off too much, though she still got 15 points for Sky Blue, which also got 10 points from West Chester junior Serifat Junaid.

Purple vs. Gold

It's hard to judge the way this one will go in the other quarterfinal slated for 7 p.m. on Court 2 considering the two last met in the season opener back on June 18 when third-seeded Gold (9-3) emerged with a low-scoring 47-41 win over sixth-seeded Purple (7-5).

Gold is coming off an upset loss to Red while Purple locked up the sixth seed Tuesday with a 55-43 win over Heather Grey.

In the win for Gold in their last meeting, Maureen Leay, a Bryant sophomore, scored 15 points, Mackenzie Rule, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, scored six, and that number was equaled by Hawks junior Natasha Cloud.

Lexi Scrivano, a Millersville sophomore, scored 10 for Purple, while Aubrey Howland, a Mary Washington junior, scored seven points, and Gettysburg sophmore Rianna Doane and Dowling junior Christine Verrelle each scored six points.

Directions

The Gym, which has a big sign on the front, is near the end of Willow Grove Industrial Commons business park at the end of Turnpike Drive, which is off Davisville Road by the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

It is near the intersection of Byberry Road and Davisville Road, which runs from 611 in Willow Grove.

Admission is free and there is a reasonably priced snack bar with drinks, hot dogs, water ice, hamburgers and munchies.

If it is raining and parking isn't right near by the entrances, a Guru secret is to go to the back of the complex, look for the deck, and if the back door is open, the walk will be shorter.


Playoffs Schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday, Aug. 1
7:15 p.m. (8) Kelly Green (5-7) vs. (1) Hunter Green (11-1), Court 1
(6) Purple (7-5) vs. (3) Gold (9-3), Court 2

8:15 p.m. (7) Sky Blue (6-6) vs. White (11-1), Court 1
(5) Red (8-4) vs. (4) Maroon (8-4), Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 6
Court 1
7 p.m. Highest seed survivor vs. Lowest seed survivor
<8:15 p.m. Other two quarterfinals survivors

Thursday, Aug. 8
Court 1
7 p.m. Championship winner take all

Tidbits From the Commissioner

David B. Kessler, now in his 20th season as commissioner of the league, in the game-day newsletter, notes that this time around there are 156 players representing over 60 collegiate programs and the average player height is 5-foot-9 and the average age is 20.5.

Looking ahead to next season, the 2014 draft will be May 29, the season will open June 17, the entry deadline for registration form, player information sheet, and fee is May 24th,

On a serious note, the commissioner would like to remind players to please remove all jewelry prior to playing in games. He says it's a rule designed for everyone's protection and game officials need to enforce it because of potential liability issues if an injury occurs.


Explaining the Final Standings

This is redundant to the opening storyline but since this has been the place to discuss the standings to simply state it: Hunter Green and White tie for first and Hunter Green is the one seed off a head-to-head win.

Gold is alone in third.

Maroon and Red tie for fourth and Maroon has head-to-head win.

Purple, Sky Blue and Kelly Green are 6-7-8 alone at each slot and finish the group of playoff qualifiers.

Black is alone in ninth.

Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for 10th with Navy Blue winning the head-to-head matchup between the two teams.

Orange is alone in 12th and Royal Blue finishes the standings alone in 13th.

The running grid is in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field.

Also, continued special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW and a duplicate of Thursday's report of 7/18 here is now over at http://philahoopsw.com to see what the future of coverage may be.

The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos and coverage at philahoopsw are in play.

Final Standings

Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points

%-1-Hunter Green, 11-1, .917, ---, 759, 661
%-1-White, 11-1, .917, --- 738, 552
%-3-Gold, 9-3, .750, 2.0, 605, 562
$%-4-Maroon, 8-4, .667, 3.0, 650, 639
%-4-Red, 8-4, .667, 3.0, 744, 652
%-6-Purple, 7-5, .583, 4.0, 693, 678
%-7-Sky Blue, 6-6, .500, 5.0 , 753, 744
%-8-Kelly Green, 5-7, .417, 6.0, 706, 728
9-Black, 4-8, .333, 7.0, 671, 740
10-Navy Blue, 3-9, .250, 8.0, 666, 766
10-Heather Grey, 3-9, .250, 8.0, 695, 713
12-Orange, 2-10, .167, 9.0, 584, 690
13-Royal Blue, 1-11, .091, 9.0, 455, 614

%-Clinched playoff spot

Running Grid
This is the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide for the eight-team playoffs.

1-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. White (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. R.B (W-Forfeit).

1-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (W), vs. Hunt. G. (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Black (W).

3-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W), vs. White (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Black (W), vs. Red (L).

4-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W) , vs. Orange (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (W)

4-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. Navy Blue (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Gold (W).

6-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W).

7-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Orange (W), vs Heath. Grey (L), Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (W).

8-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Orange (W).

9-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. White (L).

10-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Sky B. (L).

10-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Purple (L).

12-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Sky B (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (L).

13-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Gold (L-Forfeit), vs. White (L-Forfeit), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Hunt. G. (L-Forfeit).

boldface type in grid indicates games that broke ties.

Top Individual Peformances (20 or more points)

32 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (W), vs. Sky Blue, July 16
29 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, (W) vs. White, July 10
27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
26 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 16
26 Pts.: Jasmine Elum, White (W) vs. Heather Grey, July 25
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (W) vs. Orange, July 23
25 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L), vs. White, July 25
24 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 10
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
23 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 10
23 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. White, July 16
23 Pts.: Kara Bonenberger, Royal Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 23
23 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 30
23 Pts.: Geena Gomez, Navy Blue (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 30
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
22 Pta.: Jasmine Elum, White (W) vs. Black, July 30
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
21 Pts.: Brittany Wood, Kelly Green (L) vs. Purple, July 10
21 Pts: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 11
21 Pts: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L) vs. Navy Blue, July 11
21 Pts: Emily Leer, White (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 23
21 Pts.: Jacqueline McCarron, Black (W), July 23
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (L) vs. Purple, July 9
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Orange, July 10
20 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (W), vs. Black, July 30
20 Pts.: Ciarra Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 30

Till next report.

-- Mel


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

UConn Trio Leads USA U-19 Team To World Title And Gold

By Mike Siroky

If the three USA starters on the 2013 USA Under 19 national team from UConn are any barometer of success, then the rest of the college hoops universe is in for quite a challenge in upcoming seasons.

In other words, are UConn-vinced yet?

Of course, prior results do not guarantee future payoffs, but Brianna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson started the games and ended them with a 3-0 sweep in the medals round (9-0 overall) to win the Gold at the World Championship.

Any players who opted out of this experience missed the chance to represent their country, firm up their reputations and just have fun whippin’ on the world in the tournament in Lithuania.

The finale was with France, which lost its only two games of competition against USA. Maybe they were just happy to be guaranteed their nation’s first medal of any kind in these competitions. And they handed Spain its only loss in the semifinals.

USA, of course, wanted a got a Gold, the sixth in succession and the seventh of the eight U19 Championships.

The 61-28 finale showed all the work on defense made all the difference. It is hard to pick a superlative session, but USA allowed only six in the third quarter and two in the final quarter. It was smash-mouth basketball at its best.

Stewart – “Stewie” to her teammates in Lithuania – scored 16 in 32 minutes and becomes USA’s all-time leading scorer at this level. She was undeniably the MVP of the team, replicating the award she won as a freshman in April leading the Huskies in New Orleans to their eighth NCAA title, matching the record total previously collected by Tennessee.

“At halftime we talked about our defense, said USA coach Katie Meier (Miami). “They had only scored 20 points and that was huge for us.

"So, we just said that when push comes to shove, you win championships with your defense, so go out there and lock down and stay together as a team. That was just an amazing performance.

As for Stewart: “She’s such a special player and just when you think she’s tapped out, she’s getting better. Even throughout this tournament, she faced a lot of different defenses and a lot of different strategies.

“She’s patient and she hunts her shots when we need her. She rose to the occasion and that’s kind of her M.O. Wow, it’s a joy. She is joyful. She is just so fun to coach.

“Before the game when we were in the hotel lobby, I said, ‘I just want you to know, I came to win.’ And she’s like ‘I got you coach.’ It was like, ‘Wow!’ The kid’s got all that pressure on her and she told me she got me. She’s a champion.”

Stewart had 152 points in the USA’s games, moving past other UConn idols Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore and former Ohio State star Jantel Lavender.

Tennessee’s Bashara Graves made the starting lineup at last and led all rebounders with eight.

She and Kentucky incoming freshman Linnae Harper were the two world discoveries in this tournament, Harper a difference maker off the bench and Graves on the boards. Graves and Stewart each had 56 rebounds.

Harper finished with 32 assists, third best all-time. Starter Alexis Jones (Duke) finished with 39, tying the all-time assists record.

“It felt really good (to win the Gold),” said Harper. “Seeing the time go down, it was 10 seconds left, I was really excited, all the jitters were there and I was just happy to be able to the Gold.

“I think it was just being focused. We played them twice and they were good games.

"But if we just focused on the things we needed to do and play team ball, work together and have good chemistry, I thought we’d do good.”

Now she can focus on UK.

“It’s going to really help me with my confidence and also with my game. Being around college players and playing with them, I kind of know a little bit about college ball," Harper continued.

"Playing for coach Meier, she’s a college coach, so that really helped me a lot. I think I’ll be ready for Kentucky.”

Stewart also hit .583 on 3s, setting another U19 record, one that had stood since 2001.

Add up her work and Harper said the MVP was a no-brainer.

“She deserved it. She led us throughout the whole tournament. When we needed her, she was there. She’s a good team player and a leader. She deserved it.”

Stewart herself just rolled with the show.

“It was different (than previous USA Basketball tournaments) because I had a different role. Usually I’m not one of the older players and coming into it I was looked at as a veteran because I’ve been in these situations before I’ve had to play well and try to lead my team at the same time.”

Of course, she liked the defense.

“Definitely defense. You could see that they scored 20 points in the first half and then only eight in the second. I think that we really wanted to make a third quarter run and we did that, starting with our defense, which led to transition offense.”

She even said she was a little surprised – even if no one else was – that she won MVP. She said “shots were falling” and she was just “having fun” and the team goal was always the most important goal.

In fact, she didn’t watch her own stats and said becoming the all-time leading scorer in the 19 World Championship scoring leader was “news to me.”

Meier filled her in when it was all over.

“Coach Meier said it after the game. But, it’s just points. You could score points and still lose the game. I’m just happy that we won.”

She can now, like the others from this world-best team, look forward to a return to campus.

“I definitely think it is going to help me,” she said. “At UConn, I was obviously an underclassman, but being really able to try to create more of a leadership role for myself, I think that will only help me at UConn.

“From this coaching staff I learned a lot. It’s a great group of coaches from top D1 schools. I was very excited to be able to play under them. They’re on the same level that I am and I think they helped me create more of a leadership role and helped me play well.”

In the semifinal round, the opponent was one-loss Australia, which had tested USA in a pre-tournament game (they were in opposite brackets in Lithuania) in a six-point USA win.

This one was not as close.

USA qualified the Gold game with a 77-54 runaway.

Of course, it was Stewart who led the romp, with 23 points and eight rebounds.

After all, she had been on the five-member all-tournament team in the 2011 U19 Worlds. She scored 14 -- including the fist nine – of a 21-0 spree that locked this one away.

“Australia is just so good and they have incredible half-court execution,” said Meier. “We were really struggling to score and we couldn’t. Therefore, we had to run back and play half-court defense. The game was not going in our favor at all.

"As soon as we had an opportunity to throw in a little press and trapping action, which requires scoring, once we were able to start scoring just a little, we were able to get into that," Meier said.

“We weren’t pushing the ball well (in the first quarter),” said Jefferson. “We were playing their game by slowing it down and we weren’t going into our offense right.

"Once we got our tempo up and started pushing the ball, we started getting shot after shot.”

Once Australia took its last lead, 20-17, Stewart decided to take over, often on break started by a Tuck rebound. Harper also fed Stewart for several wide-open shots in the pivotal run.

As is usual with championship teams, defense displayed the tenacity that broke the opponent’s spirit. With two minutes left in the half, Australia had been shut out since taking the lead and USA had a 10-point margin, pushed to 18 by the break.

“Obviously that second quarter, that was one of the most thrilling moments in coaching ever,” said Meier. “That run, that 21-0 run was just so hard-earned. It didn’t come easy. They didn’t cough up the ball. Kids were covering and fighting and pursing balls. It was really, really tough. We played very, very hard in that stretch.”

By halftime, the USA already forced 11 turnovers, 10 of which were steals converted them into 10 points. After losing the rebounding battle in the first quarter 14-9, the U.S. stepped up their defense of the glass and outrebounded Australia 17-8 in the second quarter.

“My teammates did a really good job of getting me open,” said Stewart. “At that time I wanted to try and get us going as a team. Obviously any player could have done it on a team. I just made shots. People seemed to follow and it seemed to get us a pretty big lead.”

Tuck finished as the USA’s second-leading scorer and rebounder with nine points and seven rebounds while Harper had five and Jefferson four of the USA’s 22 assists.

The medals round started with a torching of Japan, USA had at least a four-inch height advantage at every position and used it well.

It showed up well in rebounding, 70-32 USA. That’s a world record by two, set in 2007 by the USA.

All 12 U.S. team members scored at least four points apiece, including six in double digits.

“Bashaara brought a really tough mentality,” said Meier. “Mo Jefferson, Morgan Tuck and Graves were just taking care of business. They were very focused; they really wanted to respond.

“And then Stewie was all over the glass and that got us some options, some run-out opportunities. She’s so versatile with the ball. I felt good about players responding to what we challenged them to do.”

USA started with routs of Lithuania, 113-47; China, 103-56; and Mali, 103-26. In the second round, the Netherlands fell, 102-42; then Canada, 88-54; and finally the first test by then-unbeaten France, 69-63. In that one, the USA starters were simply better than the France starters.

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was played every four years starting in 1985.

FIBA changed its calendar in 2006 and now conducts the U19 World Championship every other year.

USA is 60-12 in the U19/Junior World Championships, capturing a fourth-consecutive Gold medal with an 8-1 record in 2011 and has taken five of the past six U19/Junior World Championships with a 54-4 record in that time, including the wins in this tournament.


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WNBA Indiana Fever Coach Lin Dunn Headlines 2014 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class

By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The great moments keep coming later in the career of WNBA Indiana Fever coach Lin Dunn.

Following winning her first league championship last year when the Fever upset the local Connecticut Sun here at Mohegan in the Eastern finals and then went on to dethrone the defending rulers Minnesota Lynx out of the West, Dunn got to coach the East squad in Saturday's All-Star game.

At halftime, ESPN announced Dunn as part of the new six-member class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame who will be inducted next June at the home of the Hall in Knoxville, Tenn.

"Are we doing that this weekend?" Dunn quipped when privately congratulated Friday afternoon during the All-Star interview session here at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

"I've been so busy with this I lost sight that was coming. I haven't even told my staff so it will be a surprise to them," Dunn continued.

"Well you know it's overwhelming, it's humbling it's a tremendous honor. I know some of my colleagues and peers that are already in the basketball hall of fame and to be able to join them is a wonderful moment for me.

"When I found out I immediately thought of my mother and how excited she would be. she's always been my favorite fan. i lost her last year. She'll be smiling down proudly for me. it's my 43 year of coaching, so I can look back and say I'm excited to be a part of the history of the growth of women's basketball collegiately and professional. It's a unique moment for me."

Dunn also coached in the former American Basketball League and in collegiate competition at Purdue, Miami, and Mississippi besides being an Olympic assistant in 1992 to former Immaculata superstar Theresa Grentz, herself a WBHOF who coached at Saint Joseph's, Rutgers and Illinois.

Meanwhile the rest of the WBHOF class makes it a pretty eclectic group.

Mimi Griffin, a Pittsburgh graduate whose MSG Promotions manages hospitality events for golf's U.S. Open and other major events and who lives in Allentown, Pa., was one of the early women's basketball broadcasters of the modern era and is the third media member to be inducted joining yours truly, who was honored in 2007, and the great broadcaster Robin Roberts, who was enshrined a year ago.

Griffin was the first woman to broadcast early rounds of the NCAA men's tournament.

Besides her work with the U.S. Open, Griffin has been an Executive Director for the 1992 and 2000 U.S. Senior Opens, and 2009 U.S. Women’s Open all held at Saucon Valley Country Club, in Bethlehem, PA, as well as for the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, CO.

In 2009, Griffin was named one of the “Best 50 Women in Business” by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Department of Community & Economic Development.

Griffin had also been involved with the Special Events Marketing department at Manufacturers Hanover Trust (1980-82) in New York City, which ran women's basketball tournaments in Madison Square Garden, and later served of National Director of Promotions for Women’s Athletics for Converse (1983-85).

Michelle Edwards, an assistant at Rutgers under the legendary C. Vivian Stringer, played for her Hall of Fame boss when both were at Iowa and is a native of Boston.

Iowa received its first No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press women's poll when Edwards, who also played in the WNBA, played for the Hawkeyes in the mid-1980s.

Yolanda Griffith was a standout center in the former American Basketball League and starred for the former Sacramento Monarchs winning a WNBA title besides playing for USA in the Olympics and winning a pair of gold medals.

Griffith, considered one of the all-time defenders and rebounders in the sport, was recently hired as the top assistant to South Jersey's Dianne Nolan at Lafayette, replacing former Saint Joseph's star Kim Foley, who joined the staff of new Eastern Illinois coach Kim Debbie Black, another for Hawks sensation.

She spent the last several years as an assistant at Dartmouth.

Former Maryland great Jasmina Perazic, a native of Yugoslavia who played on the 1984 Yugoslavian Olympic team will become the latest Terrapin to enter the Hall joining former coach Chris Weller (2010) and Olympian Vicky Bullett (2011) who were honored in separate classes several years ago.

"I'm so thrilled and delighted for her," Weller said. "Her senior year she was All-American and All-European. I used to joke with her and say she was All-World."

"Jazz" is now an assistant women's basketball coach at Monmouth University in central New Jersey and previously coached high school in the Washington area.

"People have nominated me in the past but it is not something I think about," Perazic said. "It is quite an honor. I was there when Chris was inducted and they do a nice job and it is a lot of fun.

"It's funny. Three of us are all out here now recruiting and we're now Hall of Fame assistant coaches," Perazic said of Edwards, Griffith and herself.

The sixth inductee, Charlotte West, a founder of the former Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), pre-dating the arrival of the NCAA competition for women in 1981-82, was a succesful women's athletic director at Southern Illinois and involved with USA Basketball and served on the U.S. Olympic committee.

Additionally, the 1976 USA squad who won a silver medal when women's basketball became part of the games in Montreal will be the second recipient of the Hall's recently add trailblazer award.

"The neat thing is most of those players are already in the Hall as individual inductees," said women's basketball broadcast analyst Debbie Antonelli, who also serves as voice of the hall and emcees the events at induction weekend.

That group includes former Delta State star Lusia Harris, Tennessee Hall of Fame legendary coach Pat Summitt, then a player, UCLA great Anne Meyers and former Old Dominion great Nancy Lieberman who was then a high school senior out of New York.

One member of the 1976 USA team yet to be inducted is former Queens College star Gail Marquis out of New York.

Each class gets determined by the WBHOF board when members meets during induction weekend and then usually gets its first public introduction during ESPN's telecast the next month during the WNBA All-Star game.

A year ago with no event because of it being an Olympic year, the 2012 class was announced during an exhibition game involving the men's and women's USA teams in a doubleheader in Washington attended by President Obama and Vice President Biden, a big fan of his alma mater Delaware women's basketball team.

The headliner of the Blue Hens the last four years was Elena Delle Donne, who was second in the overall draft taken in April by the Chicago Sky and became the first rookie to be the overall votegetter in the voting for starter by the fans.

Set to be joined by former Baylor star Brittney Griner, the number overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury, Delle Donne and Griner were supposed to make history as the first 1-2 rookie picks by the fans but neither was in uniform.

Delle Donne was back home in Delaware recovering from a concussion suffered in the third quarter of Chicago's loss in Washington Wednesday after holding a 21-point lead.

Griner is here but has missed five games with a sprained left knee.

Former La Salle star Cheryl Reeve, the coach of Minnesota, guided the West with four members of her squad here on the All-Star roster including former UConn great Maya Moore.

The Lynx won the 2011 title and Reeve is one of several individuals being speculated as coach of the 2016 USA squad that will defend its five straight gold medals.

On Friday Delle Donne tweeted expressing her disappointment and thanking the fans for their well-wishes and saying she was feeling much better and resting to prepare for the second half of the season when Chicago will resume action with a slim lead in the East over the Atlanta Dream -- the first time the Sky has been in first this late in the season.

Chicago has yet to make the playoffs since joing the league in 2006.



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Philly Summer League: White Catches Idle Hunter Green To Tie For First

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. -- Team White took advantage of idle Hunter Green's night off with the next to the last of the 13 byes to move into a tie for first Thursday night with a narrow 61-57 win over Heather Grey in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League here at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

The game featured the only two players -- one on each side -- to hit the ongoing 20-points or more individual performance standard, making 31 overall, including repeat achievements since the season got under way in mid-June.

Jasmine Elum, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman, had 26 points for White (11-1) in repeating achieving the milestone, highlighted by shooting 6-for-6 from the line and nailing four 3-pointers.

Division II Holy Family graduate Catherine Carr added 16 points for White, which also got nine from incoming Villanova junior Emily Leer.

"It was ugly," Leer said of the struggles of one of the teams that had been among the frontrunners all summer.

Heather Grey (3-8), one of the four hopefuls of still making the eight-team playoffs among the 13 groups, got 25 points from Lehigh sophomore Kerry Kinek, who has hit the magical marker several times already since the June tipoff.

Division III Haverford junior Pallavi Juneja added 15 points.

Hunter Green (10-1) needs a win over last-place Royal Blue (1-10) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on Court 3 to clinch the top seed or White to lose Black (4-7) in the 8:15 p.m. on the same court.

Of course if White wins and Hunter Green gets upset then White gets the No. 1 seed. But Black, dominated by Division II Philadelphia University on its roster, has its own motivation barely clinging to the eighth seed but in a tie with Kelly Green, dominated by Division II Holy Family, heading into Tuesday night's final action of the regulation before the quarterfinals get under way next Thursday.

Meanwhile, Sky Blue (5-6), despite a 73-55 thumping by Red (7-4), backed into position as the official seventh team headsing to the postseason.

Though seven get to play at least one more night after Tuesday -- semifinals and the championship are in the first full week of August -- pairings are still up for grabs with any or several of 12 tie-breaking scenarios listed below and 21 overall in terms of how the final standings will take shape.

Red, dominated by Division III Scranton players on the roster, got 14 points from Lafayette junior Emily Homan, while Lia Disciascia, a Scranton junior, scored 12 points; Allison Sweeney, who will be a senior with the Royals, scored 10 points, and Kate Sherry, another Royals senior, scored nine.

Sky Blue, with a strong Division II West Chester flavor, got 19 points from Golden Rams aophomore Chikisha Steele-Hook, while West Chester sophomore Brittany Sicinski, scored 13 points, and Taylor Bryant, who was a Delaware student last year, scored 10 points.

Gold (9-2), which could finish in a three-way tie for first and even place second ahead of Hunter Green off a tie-breaker, won't finish any lower than third and kept its winning ways alive with a 58-48 win over Black as Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's sophomore, scored 14 points and was 4-for-4 from the line.

Hawks junior Natasha Cloud scored 11 points and Maureen Leahy, a Bryant sophomore at the school in Rhode Island, scored 10 points.

Victoria Arnao, a Philly U. scored 11 points, while Rams recent graduate Megan Finn scored 8 points, sophomore Jacqueline McCarron scored 7 points and Mary Newell, a Rams sophomore, also scored seven points.

Kelly Green bounced off last week's loss to Black, one of its local Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference local rivals, to get back to a tie with a 73-48 win over Royal Blue (1-10), as Erin Martin of Indiana University of Pennnsylvania scored 15 points, a total matched by Yasmin Walker, an incoming freshman with Holy Family's Tigers in Northeast Philadelphia.

Erin Fenningham, a Tigers sophomore, scored 11 points for Kelly Green.

Kara Bonenberger, a Penn junior, scored 17 points for Royal Blue, while Kelsey Watson, a Division II Kutztown freshman, scored eight points.

Kelly Green should have an easier time than Black Tuesday night wrapping up against Orange (2-9), but maybe not in the game scheduled for 8:15 p.m. on Court 1.

After going winless most of the season until last week, Orange took its second straight with a narrow 62-61 win in the closing seconds that put a serious dent in the playoff hopes of Navy Blue (3-8), which is now in a logjam parked in two-way tie with Heather Grey parked at 10th a game behind Kelly Green and Black.

Navy Blue finishes Tuesday against Sky Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1 needing a win and perhaps a lot of help as the scenarios illustrate in the outlooks further down this blog.

Orange got 17 points from Danielle Derr, a recent graduate of Division II Bloomsburg, who scored 17 points. Melissa Poderis, a sophomore at Division II East Stroudsburg, and Helena Gemmell, also a sophomore at ESU, each scored 13 points.

A Saint Joseph's trio led the way for Navy Blue as sophomore Ciara Andrews scored 18 points, a total matched by Hawks sophomore Kelsey Berger, and freshman Geena Gomez scored 12 pointss.

Maroon (8-4), which will have a bye Tuesday night and finished its regular season assured of the fourth seed, turned aside Purple 59-53, bouncing the opposition to sixth place at 6-5, though with Sky Blue's loss, Purple clinched the sixth seed through a tie-break win over Sky Blue.

If Purple were to beat Heather Grey on Court 2 at 7 p.m on Tuesday, it could tie Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break off a head-to-head loss.

Maroon, which is dominated by Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, got 14 points from the Devils' Brianne Traub, who shot 8-for-8 from the line. Natalie Stella, who is on a six-year program with graduation set for 2018, scored 11 points.

Christine Verrelle, a sophomore at Dowling College, scored 12 points for Purple, while Lexi Scrivano, a Division II Millersville sophomore, scored 10 points, Lehigh sophomore Liz Sharlow scored 11 points, and Lehigh freshman Kiernan McCloskey, scored nine points.

Having detailed all the action from Thursday in the front of the blog, there is no recap below usually reserved for games not handled in this part of the report.

Looking Ahead

The Guru down below in a special sub-section will go over tie-breaking scenarios for the final standings that will occur after Tuesday's game while in the standings explanation sub-section that has been on-going, he will address tie-breakers as they now exist in the present alignment.

Going into the last night of action this Tuesday, 12 potential tie-breaker scenarios to finalize the last playoff slot and pairings in the eight-team postseason field exist and 21 tie-breaker possibilities exist overall in terms of what can crop up to produce the final regular-season standings.

But to look at what is at stake in simplicity here on the final night of the regular season on the 12-game card for each team in the league, Hunter Green will be looking to wrap up the top seed when it meets Royal Blue, the 13th-place team at 7 p.m. on Court 3.

White will be looking to beat Black on Court 1 at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1 to take at least second place or hope that Gold loses to Red at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2 to gain likewise, though if White wins and Hunter Green loses, White gets the top seed and Hunter Green would be the third seed off a head-to-head loss Gold in breaking a second place deadlock.

Gold, which will be at worst third, needs to beat Red to have a shot at the second seed and if a three-way tie at the top results, the commissioner's office in this case would have to look at worse loss because they would all be 1-1 among themselves.

Black holding the eighth seed right now in what would be a head-to-head tie-break with Kelly Green needs to win to avoid potential playoff elimination and could even land in a seventh-place tie with Sky Blue but could lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in that situation.

Maroon finished its regular season Thursday night with a win and even if Red catches up in a fourth-place tie by beating Gold, Maroon wins the head-to-head tie-break situation.

Purple has a 7 p.m. game on Court 2 against Heather Grey and could catch Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break. However, it is a moot point since the seed setup for the playoffs would have them meeting either way in the quarterfinals in the 4-5 game.

However, if Purple loses, it could fall into a sixth-place tie with Sky Blue but would win the tie-break for sixth off head-to-head competition.

Heather Grey on the other hand must beat Purple and hope for several other things to claim a four-way tie for the eighth final playoff spot. But the only satisfaction would be a seeding disruption as a spoiler because Heather Grey is already eliminated in that it cannot emerge out of the four-way tie.

Sky Blue, which gained a playoff spot through tie-breakers despite the loss to Red on Thursday, will be looking to clinch seventh place with a win when it meets Navy Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1.

Navy Blue in the same game will be looking for a win and with some help could finish in a three-way or four-way tie for eighth and could emerge with the tie-break.

Kelly Green, which meets Orange at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1, needs to win its game and Black to lose to take eighth place outright. In a three-way or four-way tie for eighth, Kelly Green's win over Red is nice but Navy Blue's win over Gold is a trump card.

Tuesday's complete schedule with team records is listed next followed by the playoffs slate through the championship game. Once the teams in the slots are determined they will be inserted into their proper matchups.

Tuesday, July 30 (End of Regular Season)

7 p.m. Sky Blue (5-6) vs. Navy Blue (3-8), Court 1
Purple (6-5) vs. Heather Grey (3-8), Court 2
Hunter Green (10-1) vs. Royal Blue (1-10), Court 3

8:15 p.m. Kelly Green (4-7) vs. Orange (2-9), Court 1
Red (7-4) vs. Gold (9-2), Court 2
Black (4-7) vs. White (10-1), Court 3
Bye: Maroon

Playoffs
Quarterfinals

Thursday, Aug. 1
7:15 p.m. 8th Place vs. 1st Place, Court 1
6th Place vs. 3rd Place, Court 2

8:15 p.m. 7th place vs. 2d Place, Court 1
5th Place vs. 4th Place, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 6
Court 1
7 p.m. Highest seed survivor vs. Lowest seed survivor
<8:15 p.m. Other two quarterfinals survivors

Thursday, Aug. 8
Court 1
7 p.m. Championship winner take all

Tidbits From the Commissioner

David B. Kessler, now in his 20th season as commissioner of the league, in the game-day newsletter, notes that this time around there are 156 players representing over 60 collegiate programs and the average player height is 5-foot-9 and the average age is 20.5.

Looking ahead to next season, the 2014 draft will be May 29, the season will open June 17, the entry deadline for registration form, player information sheet, and fee is May 24th,

On a serious note, the commissioner would like to remind players to please remove all jewelry prior to playing in games. He says it's a rule designed for everyone's protection and game officials need to enforce it because of potential liability issues if an injury occurs.

Injury Report

And speaking of injuries, of which there has been more than normal this summer in the league, Kessler reports that Purple's Jenna Swope, a Division III Gettysburg junior, said her MRI results she suffered a torn ACL in recent action but remains very upbeat.

Explaining the Standings

Once again this time around the standings are still in their natural tiebreaking state for the moment in terms of seeding order if regular season play ended today, though not everybody has yet to play the same number of games because of the nightly byes.

For those who have already taken their byes one remains which will be served Tuesday by Maroon after finishing its regular season Thursday night on its 12-game schedule while everyone else has played 11 heading into Tuesday night's final.

Right now Hunter Green and White are tied for first with Hunter Green holding the top seed off a head-to-head tiebreaker.

Gold, Maroon, Red, Purple and Sky Blue hold seeds three through seven each alone off their records.

Black and Kelly Green are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot and Black holds the eighth seed right now off its head-to-head win over Kelly Green.

Navy Blue and Heather Grey are tied for 10th with Navy Blue placed ahead off its win over Heather Grey.

Orange off its reord stands alone in 12th and Royal Blue is 13th standing alone for the same reason.

Here is another quick look at the final night of action ahead for the four teams fighting for the final playoff spot.

K.G. vs. Orange, 7/30
N.B. vs. Sky Blue, 7/30
Black vs. White, 7/30
Heath G. vs. Purple, 7/30

Tie-Break Scenarios In Final Standings

Scenario A: Hunter Green and White finish tie for first and Hunter Green gets the top seed off its win over White if both teams win or both lose and Gold loses.

Scenario B: Hunter Green loses, White wins, and Gold loses, putting White first off record, and likewise for Hunter Green in second and Gold in third.

Scenario C: White and Gold finish tied for second if White loses and Gold wins and White gets the second seed off its win over Gold.

Scenario D: Hunter Green and White lose while Gold wins causing a three-way tie for first. Among themselves they are 1-1 in the three-way mini-league, eliminating the first tie-break attempt.

This may change and it is a long shot this scenario may even result depending on final standings but if we take worst loss, Hunt G. losing to Royal Blue would put them third and then White takes first on head-to-head over Gold, which would be second.

Scenario E: Red wins and ties Maroon for fourth but is still fifth off a head-to-head loss to Maroon.

Scenario F: Red loses and Purple wins causing tie for fifth, which goes to Red off win over Purple.

Scenario G: Purple loses and Sky Blue wins causing tie for sixth, which goes to Purple off win over Sky Blue.

Scenario H: Sky Blue loses and Black and Kelly Green win causing three-way tie for seventh and eighth, the final playoff slots.

Sky Blue takes seventh seed with a sweep over the other two and then Black gets the eighth slot off its win over Kelly Green.

Scenario I: Black and Kelly Green win and tie for the eighth and final playoff spot which goes to Black off its head to head win over Kelly Green.

Scenario J: Black and Kelly Green lose and Navy Blue wins causing three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.

The trio are 1-1 amongst themselves eliminating the first tie-break. Navy Blue, with a win over Gold has the best win and makes the field while Black in standings is ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black head-to-head win over Kelly Green.

Scenario K: Black, Kelly Green and Navy Blue lose while Heather Grey win causing three-way tie fofr eighth among Black, Kelly Green and Heather Grey.

Black is 2-0 among the three teams and makes the playoffs as the eighth seed while Kelly Green is ninth in the final standings and Heather Grey 10th off Kelly Green's win over Heather Grey.

Scenario L: Black and Kelly Green lose while Navy Blue and Heather Grey win causing a four-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.

Heather Grey is 0-3 against the other three in the crowd and is relegated to 11th wile everyone else is 2-1. Reverting to Scenario J since they are all 2-1 overall in the first tie-break but 1-1 among themselves as the three survivors, Navy Blue off its win over Gold gets the eighth and slot with the best wion. Black is then ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black's head-to-head over Kelly Green.

Scenario M: For final standings purposes not involving playoff slots if Black, Heather Grey and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Navy Blue is ninth among the group at 2-0, Black is 10th at 1-1 and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.

Scenario N: If Kelly Green, Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for ninth, then Kelly Green is ninth at 2-0, Navy Blue is 10th at 1-1, and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.

Scenario O: If Kelly Green and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Kelly Green gets the nod off beating Navy Blue.

Scenario P: If Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Navy Blue gets ninth off its win over Heather Grey.

Scenario Q: If Kelly Green and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Kelly Green gets the nod off its win over Heather Grey.

Scenario R: If Navy Blue, Heather Grey and Orange tie for 10th, then after tossing the first tie-break because they're all 1-1 among themsevles in the trio, then Navy Blue off its win over Gold is 1oth, then Heather Grey is 11th off its win over Orange, which is 12th.

Scenario S: If Navy Blue and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Orange off its head-to-head one-point win over Navy Blue Thursday night.

Scenario T: If Heather Grey and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Heather Grey off its win over Orange.

Scenario U: Finally, if Royal Blue and Orange tie for 12th the nod goes to Orange off its win over Royal Blue.

All that said, the running grid is in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field, though while the big gridlocks have been reduced to small knots, enough games, as has just been illustrated, are left to either create some headaches at the pre-playoff finish or everything may be resolved without much angst caused to the commissioner and the Guru, his standings consulting officer.

Also, continued special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW and a duplicate of last Thursday's report of 7/18 here is now over at http://philahoopsw.com to see what the future of coverage may be.

The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos and coverage at philahoopsw are in play.

Standings

Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points

%-1-Hunter Green, 10-1, .909, ---, 757, 661
%-1-White, 10-1, .909, --- 656, 500
%-3-Gold, 9-2, .818, 1.0, 556, 506
$%-4-Maroon, 8-4, .667, 2.5, 650, 639
%-5-Red, 7-4, .636, 3.0, 689, 603
%-6-Purple, 6-5, .545, 4.0, 638, 635
%-7-Sky Blue, 5-6, .456, 5.0 , 627, 602
8-Black, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 618, 658
8-Kelly Green, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 664, 674
10-Navy Blue, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 597, 685
10-Heather Grey, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 652, 658
12-Orange, 2-9, .182, 8.0, 530, 628
13-Royal Blue, 1-10, .091, 9.0, 455, 612

%-Clinched playoff spot
$-Regular season complete

Running Grid

This becomes the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide in a few weeks for the eight-team playoffs, which will begin after the regular season ends July 30.

1-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. White (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. R.B.-Tues.

1-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (W), vs. Hunt. G. (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Black-Tues.

3-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W), vs. White (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Black (W), vs. Red-Tues.

4-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (W) -- **

5-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. Navy Blue (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Gold-Tues.

6-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey-Tues.

7-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Orange (W), vs Heath. Grey (L), Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B.-Tues.

8-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. White-Tues.

8-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Orange-Tues.

10-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Sky B.-Tues.

10-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Purple-Tues.

12-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Sky B (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G.-Tues.

13-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Gold (L-Forfeit), vs. White (L-Forfeit), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Hunt. G.-Tues

**-Maroon has a bye with it's regular season concluded in fourth place.

Top Individual Peformances (20 or more points)

32 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (W), vs. Sky Blue, July 16
29 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, (W) vs. White, July 10
27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
26 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 16
26 Pts.: Jasmine Elum, White (W) vs. Heather Grey, July 25
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (W) vs. Orange, July 23
25 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L), vs. White, July 25
24 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 10
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
23 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 10
23 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. White, July 16
23 Pts.: Kara Bonenberger, Royal Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 23
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
21 Pts.: Brittany Wood, Kelly Green (L) vs. Purple, July 10
21 Pts: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 11
21 Pts: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L) vs. Navy Blue, July 11
21 Pts: Emily Leer, White (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 23
21 Pts.: Jacqueline McCarron, Black (W), July 23
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (L) vs. Purple, July 9
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, SkyBlue (W) vs. Orange, July 10

Till next report and between now and then it's off to Moehgan in Connecticut for Friday's interview sessions and practices and Saturday's action at the annual WNBA All-Star game.

-- Mel


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USA U-19 Squad Unbeaten in Championship Round With Three UConn Starters

By Mike Siroky

It is beginning to look more and more like a sweepstakes for the 2013 USA U19 World Championship Team after another round of 3-0 heading into the quarterfinals.

UConn has had the most impact on this team, with three players, including leading scorer and undeniable MVP Breanna Stewart, in the regular starting five.

The team is making life easy for Katie Meier (Miami) and assistants Nikki Caldwell (Louisiana State) and Kelly Graves (Gonzaga).

They finally hit a challenge in a matchup of unbeatens but survived even that to emerge as the top seed headed into the medals round.

Team USA has now swept six straight this tournament. They are the undeniable favorite heading into the weekend medal round.

First up in Round 2 was Netherlands.

They were blasted like everyone else to that point, 102-42.

Team leader Brianna Stewart, the MVP of last April's NCAA Women's Final Four won by UConn, played just 22 minutes and that was the second-most time on the team.

She scored 10, with six rebounds. UConn teammate Morgan Tuck, also a starter, scored 18 in 15 minutes. The third UConn player was a third starter once again, as Moriah Jefferson reclaimed her role as the setup guard.

The defense held Netherlands to 25 percent form the field, including a 26-4 second quarter.

Meier credited the game plan to her coaches.

“The assistants are doing a great job with the scout, not overcomplicating things but understanding that if we take two or three things away from the other team, it’s very hard for them to overcome,” she said.

She said the schedule of nine games in 11 days allows her to play most everybody.

For instance, Kentucky-bound Linnae Harper has been a key player off the bench, and yet, “I didn’t even realize Harper didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. And Harper’s won a world championship,” Meier said.

“It’s just one of those things where we wanted to go really long tonight. We wanted to see our length against a zone. We wanted to do some switching defenses, which as you rotate people through you’re thinking ‘Oh goodness gracious! I’m very blessed.’

“There’s a lot of talent on this team and everybody’s really performing. People are playing really, really solid basketball. There’s not some glaring error that you have to pull someone. They’re playing great.”

Harper said she’s lovin’ it.

“We know that we have a lot of people on the bench who can bring the same intensity, play as hard and we have confidence in all 12 players,” Harper said.

Canada – finally another team with a wining record – was the next to challenge.

The 88-54 score is more realistic than all the previous games, but it was yet another rout with five USA players in double figures. Defense made the difference.

They closed the half on a run and extended it to 19-0 early in the third quarter to put the game away. Duke’s Alexis Jones scored nine of the game-high 17 in that pulse.

The win gave the USA automatic entry into the quarterfinals.

Stewart scored 14 and Tuck 13. Bashaara Graves (Tennessee) has performed mightily in the middle and this time she scored 10, as did Harper. All but Harper started.

“At the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, we played great,” said Meier.

“It took us a little bit of time to establish ourselves and our tempo. It was a nine-point game there close to the end of the second quarter and we pushed it to 16 at halftime.

“Our starters were taking care of business at the start of the third quarter. A 31-point third quarter, when points were hard to come by tonight, I thought that was the difference in the game.”

Moriah Jefferson, the third UConn starter once again, was ready to praise Jones, the player of the game.

“Incredible,” she said of Jones. “She came out on fire, so I was like, ‘Well, wherever Lex is, that’s where I’m going to try to get the ball to.’ I think we all as a team recognized it and we just fed the beast.”

Jones had seven assists and three steals.

Unbeaten (until it played USA) France completed the Round 2 challenge. A nice 69-63 win puts France as the No. 2 seed an an inevitable rematch in the final game this weekend.

Stewart and Tuck, 26 and 22 points, provided the offense. Graves, Jones and Harper were steady at the close as France could never get it to a point of contention.

Graves has seven rebounds and four points, Jones nine points, three rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots and Harper had five points, seven rebounds and three assists. One of Jones’ biggest blocks was on a 3-attempt with less than 44 seconds left.

Of the block, Tuck said, “It was really big. That was a really big play that we needed. We needed a stop and that’s what we were struggling to get. I think she did a great job of being really tough on the offensive end (Jones had just hit her own 3) and then coming right back and being tough on defense.

Tuck scored the final point from the line, then USA denied any shot in the final 18 seconds.

Meier termed it a dedication by the veterans of international play that made the difference.

“We have a ton of respect for France,” Meier said. “They match us athletically. They are better than us in pace of play and they controlled the tempo tonight.

“We couldn’t impose our will on them, because they’re a very veteran team. We had to play their game and break through our box of tricks. We had to dig through our half-court offenses and our half-court defenses and really execute.

“We figured it out, but it took a long time to figure it out. They’re a very sophisticated, high-level basketball club.”

USA started with routs of Lithuania, 113-47; China, 103-56; and Mali, 103-26.
It has been so much fun that any young college player who declined the opportunity to play here is missing the chance, experience and exposure of a lifetime.

The top four teams move into the championship stage, this weekend.

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was played every four years starting in 1985. FIBA changed its calendar in 2006 and now conducts the U19 World Championship every other year.

USA is 60-12 in the U19/Junior World Championships, capturing a fourth-consecutive Gold medal with an 8-1 record in 2011.

USA has taken five of the past six U19/Junior World Championships with a 51-4 record in that time frame, including the six wins for far in this tournament.


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Guru's WNBA Report: Delle Donne Suffers Concussion During Sky Collapse to Washington

By Mel Greenberg

WASHINGTON _ Former Delaware sensation Elena Delle Donne, the first rookie to become the top votegetter for the WNBA's All-Star game, suffered a concussion during the third quarter of the Chicago Sky's implosion from a first-half 21-point lead to the Washington Mystics early Wednesday afternoon, making her doubtful for this Saturday's annual pro women's basketball classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.

The injury marred what had been the most targeted of three Eastern homecomings for Delle Donne here at the Verizon Center since she was made the No. 2 overall pick by Chicago in April's draft and also illustrated how quickly things can turn on a dime in the WNBA as they do in other sports and walks of life.

The other stops have been to the New York Liberty at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and to the Connecticut Sun, site of Saturday's All-Star game.

Delle Donne's older brother Gene, who is also serving as her agent, said after the game she had suffered a concussion when she went down during the third quarter, though Sky coach Pokey Chatman used the phrase concussion-like symptoms because she had not yet talked to the doctors following the 82-78 loss heading into the break.

Delle Donne was to take a baseline test when returning to Chicago and if she passed there was speculation she might appear, though Chatman noted the WNBA is very careful when dealing with concussions and players are tended to not be rushed back into active duty.

Chicago, which had yet to make the playoffs since joining the league in 2006, arrived here as the visiting partner to the Mystics' camp day promotion off the best start in franchise history holding first place in the Eastern Conference with a 12-4 record and a 1.5 lead over the second place Atlanta Dream.

Besides the youngsters, a sizeable portion of the Delaware faithful, who live less than two hours from here to the north, helped make the announced crowd of 14,411 the largest of the season in Washingtron.

Delle Donne, who has become the most celebrated of the three standout stars of the 2013 NCAA collegiate season since the season got under way, had scheduled a postgame autograph session here, which was cancelled in the wake of the injury.

Ironically, from the super-hyped focus since last fall by ESPN, the NCAA and now the WNBA over the "Three to See," including Delle Donne, former Baylor star Brittney Griner and former Notre Dame sensation Skylar Diggins, none of them may appear Saturday.

Griner, the overall number one pick of the Phoenix Mercury, has missed games recently because of a sprained ankle and did not make the trip in Wednesday's loss to the Western Conference front-running Minnesota Lynx and her status is unknown.

She was voted a starter on the West squad and with Delle Donne on the East, it is the first time the top two rookie selections were set to play at the opening tip of the All-Star game.

Diggins, taken number three behind Delle Donne, by the Tulsa Shock has struggled and was not voted by the fans nor was she named one of the six reserves named by the Western Conference coaches to fill out the 11-member squad.

Even if Griner can't play it is questionable whether league president Laurel Richie would name Diggins as a Western replacement since there are others not named who might be deemed more worthy for participation.

Delle Donne, a 6-foot-5 swing player, arrived here Wednesday as the top rookie scorer with an 18.6 points per game scoring average and has come into the league after finishing fifth as the all-time NCAA career scorer with 3,039 points and transforming Delaware from a nice mid-major program to a national force, taking the Blue Hens last March to their first-ever Sweet 16 appearrance in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

She had struggled in recent games and was 2-for-15 from the field Wednesday, scoring 11 points, before being taken to the locker room and sidelined the rest of the game.

Chatman had indicated in a recent game in New York she expected Delle Donne was going to hit a wall soon, not like other rookie sensations who have outstanding collegiate careers and then in a short turnaround time have to be acclimated for new competition and a new lifestyle in the WNBA in terms of the routine of travel, practice and game days.

Delle Donne, who originally committed to powerful Connecticut before deciding that Delaware close to home was more conducive, struggled with nagging injuries in college and battled Lyme disease, causing her to miss 22 games.

"I think this will be a nice break when you usually hit that rookie wall," Chatman said. "She's a rookie in stature but obviously she plays the minutes of a six-year vet.

"I think it is great for her that this comes at a really good time."

With many of her followers cheering Delle Donne and the Sky on, Chicago, which had gotten off to lopsided starts in recent games, seemed ready to roll again when it built the 21-point lead in the first half.

But Washington (9-9), which had the worst record in the league last season with only five wins, has experienced resiliency under new coach Mike Thibault, who had made the Connecticut Sun a perennial contender for 10 seasons before being let go last winter sfter the Sun, which won the regular season Eastern Conference, fell to the eentual Indiana Fever in the deciding game of the Eastern championship.

The Mystics, who failed to land in position to get one of the top three picks, rode the play of rookie Emma Meeseman of Belgium, who got all 12 of her points in the fourth quarter.

Newcomer Ivory Latta, the former North Carolina star who came in a trade before the season from Tulsa, .had a game high 18 points and 13 assists and on Tuesday was named by the East coaches as one of the six All-Star reeserves, marking her first appearance in the event.

Former Duke star Monique Currie had 14 points, while Tayler Hill, taken fourth overall out of Ohio State, in the draft, scored 11 points.

Former Rutgers star Kia Vaughn had nine points off the bench for Washington while her former Scarlet Knights teammate Matee Ajavon scored sevven points as did former Maryland star Crystal Langhorne,who joined Latta as an East All-Star reserve from the Mystics.

Sylvia Fowles, named to the East All-Stars as a reserve, scored 21 points for Chicago, while former Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince finished with 18 points for the Sky.

Former UConn star Swin Cash had 18 points for the Sky, while former Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince scored 18 points.

"You never want to miss an opportunity," Cash said of the Sky squandering another potential win. "We'll take this and use it as a learning experience."

-- Mel




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Philly Summer League: Leaders Maintain Pace While Purple and Red Boost Playoff Field to Six

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, PA. -- Hunter Green and White continued their 1-2 race at the top of the standiings, third-place Gold lost a little ground serving the nightly bye while Red and Purple stayed tied for fifth behind fourth-place Maroon but became the fifth and sixth teams to qualify for the eight-team playoffs with a logjam of hopefuls under them fighting for the final spots.

That's how it went Tuesday night in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades as the regular season approached its final two nights on Thursday and then next Tuesday.

Playoffs in quarterfinal action will begin a week from Thursday before advancing to two semifinals and on to just one night, winner-take-all, for the championship early next month.

In terms of the milestone tracker, four players had individual performances of 20 or more points with Lehigh sophomore Liz Sharlow hitting the mark again for Purple, scoring a night-best 25 points in a key 58-47 win over Orange.

Three players reached the category for the first time in Villanova junior Emily Leer scoring 21 points for White in a 66-49 win over Sky Blue to stay a half-game behind first-place Hunter Green while Penn junior Kara Bonenberger had 23 for Royal Blue in a narrow 65-60 loss to Maroon and Jacqueline McCarron, a Division II Philadelphia University sophomore, had 21 for Black in a key 72-66 win over Kelly Green to move into sole possession of eighth place.

It may be difficult to stay there over the final two nights as detailed in coverage below.

Hunter Green (11-1) got another standout effort from the Shields sisters to stay in first by taking a 73-57 win over Heather Grey (3-7), which is barely hanging on for a playoff spot.

Erin Shields, an incoming Saint Joseph's senior who has had 20 or more points five nights this summer, had another of near-miss on the milestone but was productive enough with 19 points. Kerri Shields, a recent graduate of Boston College, scored 10 points as did sister Shannon, a sophomore at the University of San Diego. Ten points was also registered by Lauren Crisler, an incoming freshman at American University.

Hunter Green has Thursday night off serving the next nightly bye in the 13-team league before trying to wrap up the No. 1 seed next Tuesday night.

Meanwhile Lehigh sophomore Kerry Kinek scored 16 points for Heather Grey and Pallavi Juneja, a junior at Division III Haverford, scored 11 points.

Besides Leer's points for White (9-1), Jasmine Elum, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman, scored 10 points.

Sky Blue (5-5), composed primarily of Division II West Chester, dropped into seventh place as Golden Rams sophomore Brittany Sicinski scored scored 15 points and West Chester junior Serifat Junaid scored 10.

In one of the four closely competitive games Maroon (7-4), composed primarily of Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, held fourth with a 65-60 win over Royal Blue (1-9) as the Devils' Brianne Traub scored 14 points and Kaitlin Cole scored 10.

Maroon has just one game remaining on Thursday before taking the final bye next Tuesday on the league's 12-game schedule.

Royal Blue, which is tied for 12th but listed 13th off a head-to-head loss to Orange, got an additional 10 points from Kelsey Watson, a an incoming Division II freshman at Kutztown, besides Bonenberger's big night.

In a game between two teams fighting for final playoff spots and who are winter rivals in the Division II Central AtlanticCollegiate Conference Black, composed primarily of Philadelphia University, rode McCarron's 21 points, to gain a narrow 72-66 win over Kelly Green (3-7), composed primarily of Holy Family which fell into a three-way ninth-place tie.

Rams recent grad Megan Finn scored 11 points for Black, while Bria Young, a Philly U. junior, had 10 points, sophomore Mary Newell scored nine points, and junior Najah Jacobs scored eight.

Newell also made points with longtime league commissioner David Kessler, now in his 2oth seeason, by finding and returning $40 that he somehow managed to drop in the gym and didn't realize it was missing.

Kessler said that loot is part of the fees paid to the scorekeepers working the tables at the three courts that each house a doubleheader on Tuesday and Thursdays.

One of the workers Tuesday night was Joslin Poole, back on the books, but also recovering from a knee injury that she hopes won't affect her senior year at Abington High, according to the commissioner.

Kelly Green, still very much alive for the postseason despite the loss, got 19 points from Mary Ellen McCollum, a Holy Family junior, while Erin Fenningham, a Tigers sophomore, scored 13 points, and senior Maggie Serratelli scored 11 points.

The other two games are in the re-caps area down below.

Looking Ahead

Since first-place Hunter Green has Thursday night off, White (9-1) with a win over Heather Grey (3-7) in the 8:15 p..m. on Court 1 would erase its half-game deficit in the standings and move into a tie at the top. However, since White lost to Hunter Green it would need to win next Tuesday over Black and Hunter Green to lose to Royal Blue to take the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

White can finish no worse than third.

Gold (8-2) in third place a game back comes off Tuesday's bye and meets Black (4-6) at 7 p.m. Thursday on Court 1 in a key game for both teams before Gold wraps up next Tuesday against Red.

If Hunter Green and White lose their remaining games and Gold wins both its contests it then would tie Hunter Green for first and take the No. 1 seed off a head-to--head win and White would be third.

Depending what happens Thursday, going the other way Gold has a two-game lead in third over Maroon (7-4), Red (6-4), and Purple (7-4) and holds the tie-break in head-to-competition with all but Red, which Gold meets Tuesday in what could be a key game if Red beats Sky Blue (5-5) on Thursday.

With only less than 48 hours between Tuesday night's results and the next set of action it is moot to get into every potential tiebreak since after Thursday all the possibilities off next Tuesday night's final action would be easier to clarify.

At the monent Black is alone in eighth place but even though it beat Kelly Green Tuesday night, Black has a tougher two-game finish meeting Gold Thursday night, as mentioned earlier in this section, and then wraps up with White so it is going two of the top three teams in the standings.

Kelly Green (3-7), on the other hand, now locked in a three-way tie for ninth with Navy Blue and Heather Grey, has a much easier road to one of the two remaining playoff spots, meeting Royal Blue (1-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday on Court 2 and then finishes next Tuesday against Orange (1-9), the two teams tied for last.

Sky Blue (7-5), which fell to seventh, is virtually in the playoffs since it could emerge from a potential five-way tie for a spot next Tuesday, but the group could help itself with a key game Thursday night against Red at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2 before wrapping up Tuesday against Navy Blue.

Maroon (7-4) alone in fourth place, wraps up its regular season Thursday against Purple (6-4) at 7 p.m. on Court 3 and then will be idle on Tuesday as the last of the 13 teams to serve its bye.

Navy Blue (3-7) in Thursday's other game will be looking for a win over Otange (1-9) at 8:15 p.m. on Court 3 to strengthen its playoff aspirations before finishing out Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Court 1 against Sky Blue.

The teams with remaining byes as mentioned are Hunter Green on Thursday and Maroon on the final night of the regular season next Tuesday.

Thursday's complete schedule with team records is listed next followed by the remaining regular season schedule of six games next5 Tuesday and then the playoffs through the championship game.

Thursday, July 25

7 p.m. Gold (8-2) vs Black (4-6), Court 1
Kelly Green (3-7) vs. Royal Blue (1-9), Court 2
Maroon (7-4) vs. Purple (6-4), Court 3

8:15 p.m. Heather Grey (3-7) vs. White (9-1), Court 1
Sky Blue (5-5) vs. Red (6-4), Court 2
Navy Blue (3-7) vs. Orange (1-9), Court 3
Bye: Hunter Green

Tuesday, July 30 (End of Regular Season)

7 p.m. Sky Blue vs. Navy, Court 1
Purple vs. Heather Grey, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 3

8:15 p.m. Kelly Green vs. Orange, Court 1
Red vs. Gold, Court 2
Black vs. White, Court 3
Bye: Maroon

Playoffs
Quarterfinals

Thurday, Aug. 1
7:15 p.m. 8th Place vs. 1st Place, Court 1
6th Place vs. 3rd Place, Court 2

8:15 p.m. 7th place vs. 2d Place, Court 1
5th Place vs. 4th Place, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 6
Court 1
7 p.m. Highest seed survivor vs. Lowest seed survivor
<8:15 p.m. Other two quarterfinals survivors

Thursday, Aug. 8
Court 1
7 p.m. Championship winner take all

Tuesday's Remaining Overall Recaps

Red 57, Navy Blue 49: The Red team (6-4), one of the surprises of the summer as Division III Scranton entry which is on a five-game win streak, stayed tied for fifth and in the fourth seed ahead of Purple, though it was Lafayette junior Emily Homan leading the way with 16 points while Scranton sophomore Noelle Alicea scored 10 points.

Navy Blue (3-7), fighting for one of the remaining playoff spots, got 15 points from Kelsey Berger, a Saint Joseph's senior, and 13 from Amina Affini, a Lehigh sophomore.

Purple 58, Orange 47 Behind Sharlow's 25 mentioned in the opening of the blog, Purple (6-4) snapped a three-game losing streak and kept pace with Red in the upper part of the standings as Alyssa Isler, a Division III Getttysburg senior, got 12 points, and 11 from Meg Gallagher, a Divisiion III DeSales senior.

Orange (1-9) got 14 points from Helena Gemmell, a Division II East Stroudsburg sophomore, while Danielle Derr, a recent Division II Bloomsburg graduate, scored 12 points, and East Stroudsburg junior Ryann Fiascki scored 10 points.

Injury Report

After suffering a string of mishaps, at signoff following last Tuesday's action there were no reports of any new injuries for the second straight night.

Explaining the Standings

Once again this time around the standings are still in their natural tiebreaking state for the moment in terms of seeding order if regular season play ended today, though not everybody has yet to play the same number of games because of the nightly byes.

For those who have already taken their byes two games remain while Hunter Green and Maroon have just one left because of their respective nights off.

Right now Hunter Green, White, Gold, and Maroon hold the first four spots all alone because of records and all have clinched playoff berths as mentioned above.

Red and Purple each won their games to stay tied for fifth with Red in the fifth slot off a head-to-head win and both claimed access to the playoffs since neither can finish worse than seventh leaving just two remaining slots for the postseason action that begins with quarterfinals next Thursday.

Sky Blue is alone in seventh off its 5-5 record while Black is alone in the eighth and final slot with two games remaining.

However, as mentioned above, Black is in a very precarious situation heading into its final two games.

Just a game back of Black and tied for ninth and still alive in the playoff hunt are Kelly Green (3-7), Navy Blue and Heather Grey.

That leaves Royal Blue (1-9) and Orange (1-9), which both lost Tuesday, tied for 12th with Orange in the 12th slot off last week's lone triumph that came in a head-to-head matchup with Royal Blue.

In breaking the three-way tie for ninth, among the trio Kelly Green is 2-0 for ninth, Navy Blue is 1-1 to be placed in the 1oth slot, while Heather Grey is 0-2 to be placed at 11th.

It's possible a five-way tie among Black, Sky Blue, Kelly Green, Navy Blue and Heather Grey could occur for the final two playoff slots after next Tuesday's action concludes.

For entertainment purposes, the Guru will give you this one. In creating a mini-league to get the seventh qualifier, Navy Blue would emerge off what would be a 3-1 record against the other four.

In the same group, Black, Sky Blue and Kelly Green would all be 2-2 to keep things going but Heather Grey would drop out at 1-3.

So then for the final spot in a three-way break Sky Blue would move forward for the eighth seed off a 2-0 record in the trio, while Black (1-1) and Kelly Green (0-2) would be eliminated.

The Guru will do more after Thursday night but here are the remaining games left for the teams alive but who have not yet qualified for the remaining two slots.

Sky B. vs. Red, 7/25; vs. . Navy Blue, 7/30
K.G. vs. R.B., 7/25; vs. Orange, 7/30
N.B. vs. Orange, 7/25; vs. Sky Blue, 7/30
Black vs. Gold, 7/25; vs. White, 7/30
Heath G. vs. White, 7/25; vs. Purple, 7/30

The running grid is now in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field, though while the big gridlocks have been reduced to small knots, enough games, as has just been illustrated, are left to either create some headaches at the pre-playoff finish or everything may be resolved without much angst caused to the commissioner and the Guru, his standings consulting officer.

Also, continued special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW and a duplicate of last Thursday's report of 7/18 here is now over at http://philahoopsw.com to see what the future of coverage may be.

The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos and coverage at philahoopsw are in play.

Standings

Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points

%-1-Hunter Green, 10-1, .909, ---, 757, 662
%-2-White, 9-1, .900, 0.5, 595, 443
%-3-Gold, 8-2, .800, 1.5, 500, 463
%-4-Maroon, 7-4, .636, 3.0, 591, 586
%-5-Red, 6-4, .600, 3.5, 603, 548
%-5-Purple, 6-4, .600, 3.5, 585, 576
7-Sky Blue, 5-5, .500, 4.5 , 627, 602
8-Black, 4-6, .400, 5.5, 571, 606
8-Kelly Green, 3-7, .300, 6.5 , 596, 621
8-Navy Blue, 3-7, .300, 6.5, 536, 623
8-Heather Grey, 3-7, .300, 6.5, 595, 597
12-Orange, 1-9, .100, 7.5, 468, 568
12-Royal Blue, 1-9, .100, 7.5, 407, 539

%-Clinched playoff spot

Running Grid
This becomes the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide in a few weeks for the eight-team playoffs, which will begin after the regular season ends July 30.

1-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. White (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W)

2-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (W), vs. Hunt. G. (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky Blue (W)

3-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W), vs. White (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G. (W)

4-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. Royal Blue (W)

5-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. Navy Blue (W)

5-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W)

7-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Orange (W), vs Heath. Grey (L), Hunt G. (L), vs. Hunt G. (L)

8-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (W)

9-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L)

9-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L)

9-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L)

12-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Sky B (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (L)

12-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Gold (L-Forfeit), vs. White (L-Forfeit), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Maroon (L)

Top Individual Peformances (20 or more points)

32 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (W), vs. Sky Blue, July 16
29 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, (W) vs. White, July 10
27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
26 Pts.: Erin Shields, 25 Pts.: Hunter Green (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 16
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (W) vs. Orange, July 23
24 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 10
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
23 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 10
23 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. White, July 16
23 Pts.: Kara Bonenberger, Royal Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 23
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
21 Pts.: Brittany Wood, Kelly Green (L) vs. Purple, July 10
21 Pts: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 11
21 Pts: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L) vs. Navy Blue, July 11
21 Pts: Emily Leer, White (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 23
21 Pts.: Jacqueline McCarron, Black (W), July 23
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (L) vs. Purple, July 9
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, SkyBlue (W) vs. Orange, July 10

Till next report

-- Mel


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