The Guru Report: Auburn Stops Late Saint Joseph’s Rally While Temple and Villanova Get Wins

Guru’s note: Beyond the Saint Joseph’s game, the rest of the report was built on email, website and wire reports.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — At the end of the first quarter Thursday night here at Hagan Arena on Hawk Hill a pre-game comment from a Saint Joseph’s women’s staffer no longer seemed relevant about the possibilities there might be an upset playing Auburn in  a non-conference contest.

The Tigers were up 30-16, just two off what became their largest lead of the entire affair a few seconds earlier.

However, the game on the home team side became anything but but a lost cause in the next period when the Hawks finally stopped the surge. 

But a rally was still needed after the half and that’s what occurred out of the break as an explosion of three straight three-balls from Alyssa Monaghan spurred coach Cindy Griffin’s group to shear a 15-point deficit to move within four at 59-55 at the end of the third. 

Maybe the staffer was on to something after all, especially when Saint Joseph’s got to within a point the next period 65-64 with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left in the game.

But then the ongoing cold spell that has afflicted the Hawks’ scoring all season set in again, allowing Auburn to go on a 9-0 run until a pair of threes from Monaghan and Kristalyn Baisden with 1:18 left kept hopes alive.

Those, however, were the last points Saint Joseph’s could manage and Auburn closed it out for an 81-70 victory.

“I’m disappointed with the outcome,” Griffin said afterwards, considering Sunday the defense held Villanova to 47 in a loss. “I thought though we competed very, very well, we allowed way too many points in the first quarter and then we were just playin catch-up.

“I thought we put ourselves in position to take the lead and a couple of plays here and there and the outcome would have been a little different.”

The Hawks (3-6) found success long range in what was the sixth stright home game, connecting on 13-of-32 three-point attempts of which Monaghan  collected six to account for all 18 of her points.

Whisper Fisher off the bench had 11 points, Katie Mayock had nine points and eight rebounds, Baisden had nine off a trio of three-pointers, Katie Jekot did likewise, and Lula Roig off the bench had seven points, shooting 3-for-5 from the field.

But Auburn of the Southeastern Conference (7-1), which came into the game off a previous home triumph of Oklahoma, outscored the Hawks off turnovers 17-4 as well as points in the paint at 36-26 though rebounds were even at 30-30.

“(Janiah McKay) did an unbelievable job taking the game over,” Griffin said of the Auburn senior’s 21 points, shooting 6-for-10 from the field, and 9-for-10 from the line, while dealing four assists and swiping four steals.

Daisa Alexander had 16 points, Crystal Primm scorred 14, and Unique Thompson had 12.

“We competed and that’s what I wanted,” Griffin said. “I thought it was a good test for us and we have to learn from it.”

The game was a homecoming of sorts for the coaching staff. 

Terri Williams-Flournoy, who previously coached Georgetown, is a former Penn State star making frequent visits here when the Lady Lions were in the Atlantic 10 and also her brother Boo Williams played on the Hawks.

Assistant Clarisse Garcia was a walk-on at Villanova.

“There were issues,” Williams-Fournoy said of Jekot and Monaghan. “We knew they were good shooters and we didn’t find them enough at times so we didn’t get defensive stops.

“It was hard enough coming out of the first quarter and no doubt we relaxed in the second quarter. You can’t relax. You have to keep your hand on the gas.”

It was the third meeting between the two teams and the first two are somewhat noteworthy. In 1990 the Hawks lost in the semifinals of the Connecticut Classic when Auburn was in the Top 5.

The next day host UConn upset the Tigers, which has been stated by Geno Auriemma as the first win to propel the Huskies into national recognition and at the end of that season they advanced to their first Women’s Final Four Appearance.

In 2007 Saint Joseph’s won its own Hawk Classic upsetting the Tigers 71-69 but then-coach Nell Fortner in that tourney suspended a budding star in DeWanna Bonner for breaking a team rule.

Saint Joseph’s concludes its home stand Monday at 7 hosting Towson before going on the road until early January though a large part of the stretch is breaking for finals and the Christmas/New Year’s Holiday.

Last season the Hawks were stunned by Towson, also known as the Tigers, in Maryland.

“They’re like this team, they’re going to play very scrappy and we’re going to have to be ready,” Griffin said.

Villanova and Temple Get Wins Ahead of Sunday’s Big Five Showdown on the Main Line

Only three others of the Guru’s local D-1 group played Thursday and two of them got satisfying wins with Temple finally back at home and snapping a five-game losing streak while Villanova on the road in the nation’s capital handled George Washington 60-45 in the Colonial’s Smith Center for its third straight victory.

Adrianna Hahn had another strong performance with 18 points  for the Wildcats (6-2), who gained control of the outcome early in the third quarter.

Hahn had all of her scoring acquired through 6-of-9 three balls over the Colonials (2-7). Mary Gedeka had 13 point and nine rebounds. Jannah Tucker scored 11 points while Jekot, the sister of Saint Joseph’s Katie Jekot, had eight points, five rebounds, and five assists.

Mei-Lyn Bautista had 18 points, while Neila Luma had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Colonials, who are coached by former UConn star Jen Rizzotti, an assistant to Dawn Staley on the Olympic squad and. The current president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Hahn, a prized blue chipper out of Wilmington Delaware’s Ursuline Academy, also the alma mater ofWNBA standout Elena Dellle Donne,  has now reached second all-time for threes made with 252 passing Katie Davis of the famed NCAA Elite Eight contingent of 2003.

Temple, meanwhile, back in McGonigle Hall for the first time since the season opener, beat Iona 59-39 to stay perfect in the series between the two schools at 7-0.

The Owls (3-5) had a 43-27 advantage on the boards and also had lopsided advantages in points off turnovers 29-12, in the paint 36-24, and and second chance, 17-2. 

Mia Davis continued her outstanding season scoring 25 points and 14 rebounds in this one, while Alliya Butts and Marissa Mackins each scored nine points and grabbed three steals. 

Temple jumped to an 11-0 lead and was never threatened by the Gaels, who ironically, next host Penn Saturday in New Rochelle, N.Y.

No one scored in double figures for Iona (1-7) with highs of eight points each gained by Morgan Rachu and Shyan Mwai, while Rachu also grabbed 10 rebounds.

On Sunday at 1 p.m. in Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion Temple will take a 1-0 Big Five record against the Wildcats’ 2-0. Penn, which routed La Salle Wednesday, is also 2-0.

A Villanova win takes the Wildcats against Penn next month in The Palestra with a chance to win the Big Five outright, though last year in a similar scenario, the Quakers at ‘Nova pulled a rare upset and ended up sharing the title with the Wildcats, the second-ever piece of the local crown for Penn.

A Temple win sends the Owls hosting La Salle Dec. 30 and if they take that game, then they will have a chance to claim local rights when they travel to Penn next month.

Delaware Upended at George Mason

The Blue Hens, in an odd eight-game road trip to start the season, including play in the WNIT and a tournament in Florida, finished their trek getting trounced at George Mason 72-46 at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va.

Delaware (3-5), which was home in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark to practice, used to see the Patriots (5-4) regularly before George Mason left the Colonial Athletic Association for the Atlantic 10.

In Thursday’s game, none of thee Blue Hens scored or rebounded in double figures as Makeda Nicholas had a team high of nine points and Samone DeFreese had six six rebounds.

Camarie Gaitling had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the home team, while Nicole Carda Cardano-Hillary scored 16, and Marika Korpinen scored 13.

“This is obviously a very disappointing night and outcome,” said Blue Hens coach Natasha Adair. “We’re still really searching for aa core lineup with this group.”

Delaware is coping this season without 2018 CAA player of the year Nicole Enabosi, who was injured before the first game. But Adair noted the overall lineup is still veteran in caliber.

“It’s time to figure things out,” she said. 

Finishing out the 2018 portion of the schedule back home won’t provide much more help, other than the crowd, with a visit slated Sunday at 5:30 p.m. from UCF, one of the better teams in the American Athletic Conference; followed by a nine-day break for finals before visits from 

Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. on Dec. 18 and No. 7 Maryland at 3 p.m. on Dec. 20.

Saint Joseph’s drops by 7 p.m. Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.

In this one, GMU owned the boards, 47-28, second chance points 16-3, points in the paint 40-16, and points off turnovers 14-12.

Nationally Speaking: Mississippi State Narrowly Avoids Upset By Marquette

Anriel Howard foiled No. 18 Marquette’s scouting report, rescuing No. 6 Mississippi State at home in Starkville by scoring 29 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to a narrow 87-82 victory in the highlight game of the night among ranked teams.

The others who played all all won easily.

“Everything we were saying, she was countering,” said Marquette’s Carolyn Kieger. “That’s the sign of an all-American. That’s the sign of a great player. “

The Bulldogs (9-0) have only lost to South Carolina and Note Dame in recent seasons with a 45-0 mark in the non-NCAA phase before running into a surprise from the visitors.

Teaira McCowan had 24 points and 18 rebounds. Jazzmun Holmes tossed 13 assists.

Vic Schaefer praised the Golden Eagles’ refusal to be stymied.

“We needed every point tonight, y’all,” he said, shaking his head over the 82 points allowed, though spectators probably enjoyed the suspense over the outcome.

Marquette (6-2) got 27 points from Danielle King while the team shot 54 percent from the field.

The Golden Eagles’ attempt to tie the game at the finish was turned aside by Chloe Bibby’s block of Natisha Hiedman’s three-pointer. The Golden Eagle had 18 points.

“We can play with anybody in the country, when we put our minds to it,” Kieger said.

Looking Ahead: Will Drexel Take Manhattan

Only one team among the locals plays Friday when Drexel begins a two-day appearance in the Manhattan Holiday Classic 7 p.m. against pre-determined opponents in Riverdale, N.Y.

The Dragons (5-1), on a five-game win streak since the home opening lost to Quinnipiac, will meet the host Jaspers for the first time ever in Denise Dillon’s long coaching stint before a first-ever game against Wright State occurs on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Drexel has been on a nine-day break since winning at La Salle a a week ago Wednesday.

Though the Dragons have never beaten the Jaspers, trailing 2-0 in the short series, the teams last met Dec. 4, 1993 some 25 years ago. Manhattan (2-5) beat Lafayette earlier this week to snap a five-game losing streak.

Ironically, Dillon is a former Villanova star who was just a freshman when the Dragons and their hosts played, while Manhattan coach Heather Vulin was a seven-year assistant to Wildcats coach Harry Perretta through 2015.

Other Saturday games as previously mentioned has Penn visiting Iona, Quinnipiac visiting Princeton at 7, Rider at Binghamton at 2, and Rutgers at Harvard, also at 2.

On Sunday, besides the Nova game with Temple, Norfolk State visits La Salle at 1, Saint Bonaventure visiting Penn at 2, and the previously mentioned UCF game at Delaware at 5:30 p.m.

The same day on the national scene of note, No. 9 Tennessee visits No. 12 Texas, No. 14 Minnesota visits Boston College, No. 22 South Carolina. Visits Duke in danger out dropping out if the Blue Devils prevail, and No. 19 Kentucky at No. 5 Louisville.

And that’s the report.