The Guru Report: Alarie’s Return Leads Princeton over Quinnipiac while Penn Gains Easy Win at Iona

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PRINCETON, N.J. — There’s an old sheriff back at Princeton and her return Saturday night in a non-conference game against defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Quinnipiac restored law and order to the Tigers’ environs leading to a 54-42 win here in Jadwin Gym.

Just running a headline Bella’s Back would be good enough without the score or the numbers to note that come next month when conference play begins, the Monsters of the Ivy League should be good to go.

A lineup with more holes than a slice of Swiss Cheese primarily because of injury began solidifying with the first appearance of the season from Bella Alarie, the reigning Ivy player of the year, who delivered 16 points shaking some rust off her offensive skills, 19 rebounds for a career-high, two steals and a pair of blocked shots.

Coupled with the previous triumph here Sunday over Davidson, the Tigers (3-7) are now two straight wins removed from a seven-game slide that followed a season-opening win down the road at Rider in nearby Lawrenceville.

The native 6-foot-4 junior guard-forward, a native of Bethesda, Md., had been sidelined with a broken shoulder, one of three Tigers starters disabled and thereby forcing veteran coach Courtney Banghart to place several of the players still healthy to take thr floor out of position since last month’s opening tip.

But after Saturday’s final buzzer, Alarie was smiling with a glow that outshone the upgraded appearance of Jadwin knowing she was very close to operating with business as usual.

“I was nervous, I really had expectations for myself, I had two months of preparation, a team that’s had my back as I recovered my way back, it’s been a long time but I’m happy to be here,” Alarie said to color analyst Dei Lynam on the postgame telecast interview aired to the arena crowd.

“When I’m nervous, scoring is harder, but rebounds is a hustle play.”

Alarie elaborated further at the media opportunity.

“I feel I had lots to prove coming back as player of the year, and I had expectations for myself, so coming into this game I felt really nervous that I wouldn’t meet my expectations. I think I turned out well, but I wish I hit some more shots.”

Carlie Littlefield also delivered 16 points, while Gabrielle Rush scored 11.

Quinnipiac fell to a deceiving 4-5 in that the Bobcats have had an arduous non-conference schedule that saw a near upset of Texas, then ranked in the Top 10.

No one scored in double figures for the visitors with Jaden Ward getting closest with nine points.

The win kept Princeton unbeaten in the fledgling series between the two schools at 2-0 after an impressive triumph a year ago up in Connecticut.

“They are really a quality team and we knew it would be a battle,” Alarie said. “I love playing here and it feels really comfortable. I knew my controllable today was rebounds and how I defended, so if I hit no shots it would have been ok.”

The first half ended with a 23-21 Princeton advantage before the Tigers pulled away outscoring the Bobcats 19-9 in the next period.

If there has been a benefit, Princeton has increased its depth with the use of younger members who have gotten more experience than they might have had with an entire healthy contingent.

“She’s only practiced legit four games,” Banghart said about anticipating the return of her star. “So those four days, you come home with a smile on your face, ‘Oh God. She’s back.’”

Princeton next visits nearby Monmouth Tuesday at 7 and then takes a visit Saturday from Marist, another MAAC power, at 5 p.m. Monmouth is also in the MAAC.

Penn Rolls at Iona

The Quakers had an easy time of it, cruising to a 66-43 road win over Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., led by Eleah Parker getting a double double with 18 points and 12 rebounds with also collecting a career-best five blocked shots.

Princess Agahyere scored 13 points and just missed a double double, getting nine rebounds, while Ashley Russell scored 10 points.

It was another instance of Penn (6-2) dominating the boards, 43-25, of which 17 on the offensive end led to 16 second-chance points.  The Quakers also mined 21 points from forcing Iona into 18 turnovers.

Iona (1-8) which was back in Philadelphia Thursday losing at Temple, got double figures in points only from the 12 collected by Shyan Mwai. 

It was the first meeting between the two schools since 1982 giving the Quakers a 2-1 lead in the short series.

It will now be just short of two weeks when Penn plays again but the affair will be one of the more attractive local rival games of the season as the Quakers travel several blocks up 33rd Street to play at Drexel at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 21, in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The two neighborhood schools have not met in several years.

Rutgers Tops Harvard

The Scarlet Knights turned aside a Crimson rally to hold off Harvard 60-49 on the road at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.

Katie Benzan scored 18 points for the home team, while Sydney Skinner scored 14 points.

Rutgers (6-3) nearly squandered all of a 15-point lead with the Crimson (4-6) pulling to within a possession late in the game.

Arella Guirantes and Stasha Carey each had 19 points for the Scarlet Knights, who switched things up for the first time in seven games with a different starting lineup.

Rutgers is off until Saturday when LSU will visit the RAC in Piscataway, N.J., at 4 p.m. in a game televised on the Big Ten network.

Rider Edges Binghamton

It was another signature moment and overall productive afternoon for Rider junior Stella Johnson, who became the 23rd member of the Broncs’ 1,000-point club and finished with 21 to help carry the squad to a narrow 62-57 win over the Bearcats on the road at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y.

The win was a nice payback for a loss to Binghamton (5-5) back home last season as the Broncs neared .500 at 4-5. 

An explosive 14-0 run across the the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth was enough to put coach Lynn Milligan’s group ahead to stay.

Defensively, Johnson also grabbed nine steals, while Lexi Posset delivered 19 points of which nine were courtesy of a trio of connected three-balls.

“Stella is one of the most complete players I’ve ever coached,” Milligan said, “She hates to lose. She had that look on her face today that she wasn’t going to us lose.”

Rider is taking advantage of its trips to the line with its 12-of-16 completions making it two straight games of shooting 75 percent.

The defense is also ramping up with the Broncs pressure forcing 28 turnovers and picking up 18 steals.

Rider also goes idle through finals week with the next action Saturday at Bucknell at 2 p.n. in Lewisburg, Pa., as the Broncs will be out for another revenge victory.

 Drexel Upset by Wright State

A sweep by all the Guru’s local teams playing Saturday, the others already noted above, failed to happen when Drexel was taken down 71-63 in overtime by Wright State at the second game of the two-day Manhattan Classic in Riverdale, N.Y., in which the opponents were predetermined.

The loss snapped a six-game win streak by the Dragons (6-2), who last fell opening night at home to Quinnipiac.

Wasted in the loss were Bailey Greenberg’s career high 24 points, she also had seven rebounds, and Hannah Nihill’s 15, which were all collected in the second half aided by connecting with three three-pointers.

Aubree Brown finished with 15 points, dealt seven assists, and grabbed six rebounds.

Five players scored in double figures for Wright State (6-3) with Symone Simmons scoring 15 points, while Tyler Frierson had 10 points and 13 bounds.

In the overtime, Wright State’s putback with 1:49 to go made the affair one of two possessions again after Drexel tried to get back ahead and the Dragons were unable to prevail as the period came to a close.

Both teams are ranked in the mid-major polls with Drexel at 7th and the Raiders at 18th.

The Dragons also go idle with finals and end a longer absence on the season, returning to the DAC for the first time since Nov. 15 next Sunday at 2 p.m. to host Gardner-Webb.

Then it’s the West Philadelphia showdown as listed above when Penn visits the Following Friday in the late morning.

Looking Ahead

Sunday features the next Big Five clash as Temple visits Villanova at 1 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion in which one of three remaining unbeatens gets tagged with a loss. Penn is 2-0 and plays the other two next month.

The Owls head up from North Philadelphia with a 1-0 mark while the Wildcats are 2-0.

Elsewhere, La Salle tries to get its first win of the season when Norfolk State visits at 1 p.m., Saint Bonaventure visits Penn State at 2, and UCF visits Delaware at 5:30 p.m.

Towson visits Saint Joseph’s on Monday at 7 while elsewhere among the locals after the Princeton trip to Monmouth Tuesday the next game is Friday when Georgia visits Villanova at 7.

Nationally, No. 9 Tennessee on Sunday visits No. 12 Texas, No. 14 Minnesota is at Boston College, No. 19 Kentucky is at No. 5 Louisville, while No. 22 South Carolina’s trip at Duke has been postponed by weather among highlight games.

And that’s the report.