The Guru Report: Drexel Veterans Ride First Quarter Shutout to Third Straight Win Over Saint Joseph’s

Guru note: Items beyond Drexel game built on reports from the wires, emails, and college websites.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoops

PHILADELPHIA — The Drexel women’s basketball team put a stamp on its own version of Veterans Day on Sunday afternoon and as a result the Dragons were  the lone contingent of the Guru’s local D-1 group in action to establish a beachhead on the hardwoods of victory.

Showing more experience than a much younger Saint Joseph’s squad, Drexel made it three straight against its nearby rival, topping the Hawks 51-34 in a game that established two firsts simultaneously at the outset.

Drexel delighted its home portion of the crowd of 1,004 that also had its share of Saint Joseph’s fans in the Daskalakis Athletic Center by completing a 16-0 wipeout in the first quarter.

That was a first-ever in any quarter for the Dragons’ defense since the women’s game changed from two 20-minute halves to four10-minute quarters, a format now in its fourth season. Futility-wise it was also the first time that Saint Joseph’s has ever been blanked.

But the occurrence is not rare in NCAA parlance, since the record book says “many teams” under the category, though a scoreless quarter may be a first in this area.

The visitors were able to somewhat right themselves the rest of the way, at one point slicing the deficit to seven points before Drexel repulsed any further incursion.

Both teams were coming out of tough opening night losses from Friday when the Hawks suffered a narrow setback at home to Temple in a Big Five contest while Drexel also suffered a narrow setback in non-conference action, falling to Quinnipiac, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference heavyweight that is ranked No. 1 among mid-majors.

“This is one of the few times we are going to have the experience over the other team,” Drexel coach Denise Dillon said. “Obviously it was a defensive battle out there and this team is learning quickly how important it is for us to focus on the defensive end.

“Quick turnaround from Friday night, great response from the team knowing they couldn’t let up on defense.”

When local teams play Drexel, it is considered a Philly Six contest, though there is no formal organizational activity around the designation as there is in the Big Five.

Bailey Greenberg led the way for Drexel with 17 points and eight rebounds, both of which were game highs. Aubree Brown also scored in double figures for the Dragons with 12 points and grabbed four steals.

Hannah Nihill and Ana Ferariu each grabbed seven rebounds to help Drexel to a 39-32 advantage on the boards, including 13-6 on the offensive glass, a critical area Dillon says the team needs to execute to create extended possessions.

Newcomer Keishana Washington from Ontario, Canada, had six points and dealt five assists.

It was the second straight game Saint Joseph’s got off to a miserable start after quickly falling behind Temple 9-0 and then playing competitively the rest of the way.

“We’ve been starting games so poorly, we’ll take a hard look at that and see what things we’ll need to change and I think a lot of it comes down to experience and composure and we’re going to need to get better quick,” said Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin.

Speaking of veterans and the game played on a day when thanks to the American military is offered for its decades of service to the country, both Dillon and Griffin have been enjoying long stints on the sidelines at the two schools.

Dillon, who starred at Villanova, is in her 16th season with a career record of 283-196 and a WNIT title while Griffin is in her 18th season at her alma mater. Last season both teams finished runnersup in their conference tournaments, Drexel losing at home to Elon in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Hawks advanced to the Atlantic Ten championship against George Washington.

But a chunk of the roster that got Saint Joseph’s to another postseason appearance has graduated and the Hawks have also lost Sarah Veilleux, whose collegiate career has ended due to multiple concussions.

On Sunday veteran Alyssa Monaghan was the only Hawk in double figures, collecting team highs of 10 points and six rebounds.

One of the bright spots for Griffin is that in both losses, after the opening collapses, the Hawks did play close to even up the rest of the way.

“I think to hold a team to 51 points is terrific,” Griffin said. “Scoring wise has been tough for us. We need more of a balanced attack to be inside and outside and right now I’m waiting for someone to step up and be that inside presence.”

The Hawks total was the lowest since a 42-33 loss at Massachusetts on January 13, 2005.

Both team are right back here in West Philadelphia several blocks apart Thursday night in 7 p.m. tipoffs.

Drexel will host Patriot League power Bucknell, the second straight year the Dragons are hosting the squad while Saint Joseph’s will visit Penn in a Big Five tilt in The Palestra.

Two years ago the Hawks, who lost to the Quakers last season, came down here as a rare underdog and upset Penn.

“We did,” Griffin said. “When you’re playing with youth, things are going to be very inconsistent day to day.

“We were a totally different team Friday then we were today. Now, you’ve got to give Drexel some credit. But I also think that’s youth for you. It’s like a roller coaster and we need to get a little more composed to start games.”

Penn won its opener at Siena on Saturday and Monday night will return last season’s visit from Notre Dame by playing the Irish, who went on to win the NCAA championship. The home team will hang its new banner pre-game, joining the one from 2001.

By nature of the Irish’s ranking, it will be the first time Penn has ever played a team listed No. 1, which was not the situation when the Quakers met Connecticut in an NCAA tournament game the last decade as Ivy champions.

The game is on the ACCNE network attainable with the ESPN Apps for streaming.

Penn is the only local playing Monday, while Tuesday’s highlight will be Rutgers hosting Central Connecticut at 7 p.m. in Piscataway, N.J., as Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer goes after her 1,000th victory built in combination from stops at Cheyney and Iowa before joining the Scarlet Knights prior to the 1995-96 season.

Likely to win, she will be the sixth women’s coach and fifth in Division I, following Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell, and Division II Bentley’s Barb Stevens.

Struggles on Sunday

Things didn’t go well for Princeton, Penn State, La Salle and Rider on the rest of the local slate. Let’s go to the recaps.

George Washington 64, Princeton 49 — The defending Ivy champs were unable to build on last week’s season opener at Rider, falling to the Colonials in Washington at the Smith Center after taking an early lead.

Down 4-2, the home team, which celebrated its Atlantic 10 title pre-game, launched a 7-0 run and eventually grew the differential to 22 points at 40-18.

Princeton is playing without Ivy player of the year Bella Alarie, who is sidelined with a broken arm.

George Washington come into the game with a season-opening loss at James Madison down in Harrisonburg, Va.

Though Princeton’s 22 turnovers were just one better than the GW miscues, the Colonials mined the Tigers’ faulty ball control into 31 points.

McKenna Haire had 13 points for Princeton, while GW’s Mei-Lyn Bautista had 15 points.

The Tigers next host Seton Hall in one of their annual New Jersey rival games at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Jadwin Gym and the non-conference slate stays tough afterwards with stops at Penn State, and a trio of games in Cancun, Mexico against No. 15 DePaul, No. 18 Syracuse, and Kansas State before returning to the area to visit Villanova.

Robert Morris 67, La Salle 39 — The Explorers are now 0-2 still looking for the first win under head coach Mountain MacGillivray after dropping their first road stop.

The Colonials took solid control in the second quarter and were never seriously threatened.

Sudden thought: Maybe Veterans Day was the wrong date for the locals to be playing teams with Colonials as their nicknames.

Freshman Shayla Sweeney had 11 points for La Salle in the game played in Moon Township, Pa., while Shalina Miller had eight rebounds and Jeryn Reese grabbed seven.

Esther Castedo and Isabella Posset each scored 12 points for Robert Morris (1-1).

“There’s going to be a lot of tough nights,” MacGillivray said. “There’s a lot of kids out there doing the things they’re doing for the first time. They’re all learning, it’s everything new, it’s like there’s 12 freshman.

“The offense will come. We just have to be patient.”

La Salle moves on to Harvard, Wednesday at 7 on Cambridge, Mass., and the non-conference game will air on ESPN+.

Holy Cross 71, Rider 61 — The Broncs’ opening losing streak dropped to 0-3 after Sunday’s loss to the Crusaders inside the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex in Worcester, Mass., as a closing rally fell short.

Rider previously dropped the season opener at home to Princeton and saw a late lead wiped out at Vermont on Friday night.

It was Holy Cross’s fourth straight win over the Broncs as the Crusaders stayed perfect in the series and  took their season opener.

Stella Johnson had another big night for Rider with 22 points, though she was the only player for the visitors to score in double figures.

Despite the setback, Broncs coach Lynn Milligan was pleased with the effort.

“First of all, we got a great effort from everyone tonight,” she said. “That’s the team I want to coach. We’ll be just fine.

“Amanda (Mobley) stepped into a tough situation and ran the team well in the second half. Our intensity was great. Defensively, we were solid. Not the start we wanted, but we are progressing in the right direction.”

Rider is off the rest of the week in terms of games, not playing until Saturday when the Broncs host Mount St. Mary’s at 2 p.m.

No. 24 California 75, Penn State 58 — For a while it seemed the Lady Lions might follow their stirring season opening rally last week over Providence at home to forge an upset of the nationally-ranked Bears, holding a 43-39 advantage at 3:14 of the third quarter.

Then Cal of the Pac-12 conference dominated the Big 10 representative the rest of the way in Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center with a 36-15 run to take the non-conference win.

Siyeh Frazier had a career-high 17 points for coach Coquese Washington’s squad while Alisia Smith had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Lady Lions headliner Teniya Page scored 10 points.

Kristine Anigwe, the Bears’ three-time all-American who was the USBWA freshman of the year as a rookie, had 24 points and 22 rebounds as Cal was able to overcome 22 turnovers.

Nationally Speaking: Northwestern Upsets No. 21 Duke

Perhaps the Blue Devils shouldn’t visit teams with Wildcats as their nicknames this early in the season. Almost a year ago Villanova pulled a shocker that led the way to an outstanding season. On Sunday, Northwestern enjoyed a win, gaining an 84-58 win as Lindsey Pulliam scored 21 points for the Big Ten representative and Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah had 11 points and 17 rebounds, well above her average of 12 off the glass last season.

It was the Northwestern women’s first game in their new Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Jordan Hamilton added 18 points and Abi also scored 18 as the Wildcats moved to 2-0 after the game in Evanston, Ill., near Chicago.

Duke (1-1) got 14 points and 14 rebounds from Leaonna Odom for the Atlantic Coast Conference squad.

Joe McKeown, a graduate of Philadelphia’s Father Judge High, had never gone against Duke in his 11 seasons at Northwestern after leaving George Washington.

No. 2 Connecticut 85, Ohio State 53 — The switch to a younger roster made this game less competitive than in recent years between the Buckeyes and powerhouse Huskies, who opened their season in their campus Gampel Pavilion Arena.

UConn also plays at the XL Center in Hartford and Saturday in the Hall of Fame Showcase will meet Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena, home of the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, located in Uncasville near New London.

The three mainstays back from the Huskies’ recent season dominations, the last two of which had short-circuited finishes in the national semifinals, did their thing as Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points, Crystal Dangerfield scored 18, and Napheesa Collier scored 17.

The pleasing thing to Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma is the development of sophomore Megan Walker, the top prospect in the nation two years ago in high, who struggled last season as a rookie.

On Sunday she had 15 points and six rebounds as the Huskies (1-0) started their season for the third straight year to seek a 12th national title, building on their record 11.

“Megan’s talent, if she gets a motor like Pheesa’s and goes, she can be incredible,” Auriemma said. “It wasn’t there last year and it’s there more often this year.”

Walker showed her appreciation of Auriemma, saying, “I came here to be the best. ‘Coach, he transforms the best high school players into college players. I knew it would be tough. I knew it would be hard. We’re making progress. We’re growing.”

Carly Santoro had 20 for the Buckeyes (1-2), who have a tough opening slate of games well before dealing with their Big Ten rivals. All five starters and top six scorers from last season have departed.

Though the record 111 win streak is long gone after the buzzer-beater elimination in overtime in the 2017 national semifinals, the Huskies have not lost a regular season game since the setback to Stanford in the second game of the 2014-15 season, a run of 116 straight.

UConn will step back to an exhibition game on Thursday, meeting Southern Connecticut, once a national power before the Huskies rise under Auriemma, in Hartford prior to Saturday’s game against Vandy at Mohegan.

All but one of the AP Top 25 on Sunday had an easy time of it, the exception being No. 4 Baylor, which trailed host No. 23 Arizona State early before rallying for a 65-59 win.

The game was played in Fort Defiance, Ariz., billed as the Showdown on the Rez, paying tribute to Navajo Indians, which the Sun Devils do every year with a game, though this was the first time an event was on the reservation.

Nalyssa Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds as part of the inside tandem for Baylor

 (3-0), while Lauren Cox and Kalani Brown each scored 14 points, and Chloe Jackson scored 10.

Arizona State (1-1) got 13 points each from Courtney Ekmark and Kianna Ibis.

The Sun Devils had a 35-24 lead at the half over the Big 12 favorites. The Sun Devils play in the Pac-12.

And that’s the report.