The Guru Report: Delaware Defenses Saint Joseph’s and Rutgers’ Stringer Reaches Another Milestone

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

NEWARK, Del. — Following a long five-day break – a tad longer than in earlier years across the Xmas calendar – NCAA women’s hoops slipped back in action with some noteworthiness Friday entering a brief mixed period in which some teams will be completing non-conference play while others have begun and will be launching their league races for NCAA tourney bids.

By the end of the next four weeks the race for participation and national honors in NCAA play will begin to form while the size of the field for individual citations will be revealed in terms of the reality portion of watch lists whose overall count will be in excess.

A year ago at this time that size overwhelmingly wrapped around South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson. But in the same moment there was also a write-off waiting for a highly talented but injury-riddled group at Notre Dame to crash and burn from the weight of its adversity.

Signs are already pointing to suspense topping a large share of givens when March Madness comes calling.

On the local front first, Saint Joseph’s came down here on the short one-hour trip from Philly after an uplifting pre-break 61-44 win over Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn., to finish off the two-year deal with Delaware.

The duo were part of the four in the Guru’s local D-1 group who resumed action, the others being Rutgers and Penn State hosting Big Ten openers.

However, a brief second-quarter 8-0 rally not withstanding, it was the Hawks who got finished off 48-39 as Delaware in its Bob Carpenter Center won its first game in the overall series in 13 seasons and only second in 14 games.

That earlier triumph was a dramatic 49-48 outcome at Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 29, 2005.

Delaware was in the Hawk Classic a year ago up in Hagan Arena but the teams never met due to the Blue Hens’ failing to advance. That moves the marker for Saint Joseph’s for its last win, which is also the last time the two met, to a 50-45 win here on Dec. 22, 2010.

That was the sophomore season of budding Delaware superstar Elena Delle Donne, you all remember her? (The Guru quipped), who easily on a slew of nights approached the numbers individually that both teams struggled to reach here Friday.

Speaking of the WNBA and Olympic gold medalist sensation who helped lead the Washington Mystics to their first WNBA finals last summer, the native of nearby Wilmington did not play in that game struggling with fatigue and yet to learn its cause was chronic Lyme Disease, which she has since managed in varying degrees.

However, there was a non-counting meeting involving the Hens and Hawks which came on Delle Donne’s way back to resuming basketball after a year’s absence in her favorite sport involving one of those secret preseason scrimmages which was her first test and word was quickly whispered by eyewitnesses allowed in the arena that she had put up 50 against a pretty good defensive unit.

“She was unbelievable,” veteran coach Cindy Griffin later recalled. “We could not stop her and we tried everything.”

So now you will say, well, those two teams are pretty good defensive squads, explainable for Friday’s low output.

Well not entirely in a game in which production of individual double digits lagged behind those flashing on the cash registers of the popular barbecue concession on the upper concourse here at The Bob.

Freshman Katie Mayock took care of most of Saint Joseph’s totals with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Delaware freshman Jasmine Dickey out of Baltimore scored 10 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds, and Makeda Nicholas grabbed 10 rebounds.

It was the first career double double for Mayock, out of Conestoga High and suburban Berwyn, whose mother Alix Burns played for the Hawks in the late 1980s helping to reach four NCAA appearances.

Reserve Lula Roig of Barcelona, Spain, came off the bench to match the Mayock total of 11, shooting 5-of-9 from the field for the visitors.

In the paint, the Blue Hens outscored the Hawks 34-24 and on the offensive end won second chance points 12-7.

Delaware felt good coming out of its play before the break here against No. 5 Maryland, a 77-53 setback that didn’t get decided until later in the third and entire fourth quarters.

You will read about this kind of closeout which occurred again Friday involving the Terrapins in a bit under the visit to Penn State.

 “I love the way our team responds to different strategies,” said Delaware coach Natasha Adair in her second season after holding a similar position at Georgetown. “You could see this was a team defensive effort.”

But as Villanova veteran coach Harry Perretta recently said after the Wildcats beat a then-decimated Princeton group that had yet to get Ivy player of the year Bella Alarie activated from a should injury, “How do you really know.”

The rainbow leading to a pot of recruiting gold for Saint Joseph’s is worthless for this season in which the Hawks lost 70.5 percent of their scoring from a year ago and entered the game averaging 53.5 points, ranking 334th right behind La Salle at 53.6 and out of 349 Division I schools.

Or for those who can read upside down — 16th worst.

Their effort from the field on the night was 28.6 percent well below their 36 percent on the season so some of that was the Delaware defense, though the Blue Hens’ 32.3 percent on offense was below the 38.7 percent yielded by the Hawks, which is 146th nationally.

Delaware has had its own adversity, losing CAA player of the year Nicole Enabosi to an injury prior to the season tipoff.

The Hawks have now lost to the three CAA representatives they played including Towson and in the Drexel loss suffered a first-ever first-period shutout, though quarters have only existed a few seasons after the rules change.

In this one Delaware jumped to a 13-5 lead after the opening ten minutes, but the Hawks rallied, propelled by an 8-0 run taking them from what had been an eight-point deficit to a 15-15 tie.

Later following a 13-point deficit in the third, another rally brought the visitors within six.

However, that was the last hurrah with one non-conference left prior to the Atlantic 10 slate and that one is a New Year’s Eve visit to Navy at the Academy at 6 p.m.

That night could be interesting considering right now when it comes down to shutting down the Midships, parts of the Academy are likely already experiencing closure off the current government close out trip-levered by the guy who spoke at last spring’s graduation in Annapolis.

As of learning their own truth of the moment, the Blue Hens will quickly get an idea of their own situation in their next game a week away on Friday the fourth of the New Year when CAA favorite James Madison comes to town for the conference opener at 7 p.m.

Incidentally, there wasn’t total joy in Newark Friday night when news came from the north that the men dropped their CAA opener at Hofstra 91-46 in Hempstead, N.Y. at the Mack Sports Complex to fall to 8-6 overall. The host Pride are now 11-3.

It’s the worst loss in 31 years dating to a 95-47 disaster against then-No. 5 Iowa on Dec. 5, 1987 in Iowa City. The 46 points are the fewest in nine seasons dating to being held to 44 by former CAA member Old Dominion on Dec. 5, 2009.

Saint Joseph’s A-10 opener is the next day at VCU before Saint Louis comes to Hawk Hill on  Wednesday January 9 at 11:30 a.m. for the annual school day field trip event.

Rutgers Coach C. Vivian Stringer Gains New Milestone As ‘Knights Top Northwestern in Big Ten Opener

The matinee opener in the Big Ten Friday afternoon at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J., featured many of the signature trappings in Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer’s legendary career — another coach with long ties to Philadelphia on the sidelines and an ugly low-scoring affair in part caused by her trademark emphasis on defense.

All appropriate because when the final sounded, Rutgers had itself a 45-41 win and Stringer had another milestone accomplishment in her resume — this one being the first to win 200 Big Ten women’s games.

She’s been coach at Rutgers 13 seasons and prior in the conference at Iowa after her career began at Cheyney in the Philadelphia suburbs.

It came on a day elsewhere where another Big Ten rival produced her stamp on the conference.

Purdue, showing signs of revival, routed a rebuilding Ohio State squad 60-42 at home in Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., giving coach Sharon Versyp her 121st win with the Boilermakers, continuing at her alma mater to earn a program record for conference performance.

“It’s pretty exciting to continue the winning tradition at Purdue, first as a player, and now  as our coach,” she said. “I appreciate every player and coach that has been part of this over the last 13 seasons and look forward to furthering this success.”

The win broke a tie with Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Lin Dunn, who later joined the pro ranks first in the former American Basketball League and then in the WNBA with several teams as an assistant and head coach, most notably leading the Indiana Fever to their only WNBA title, though the squad was a longtime playoffs participant.

The Boilermakers are now 10-4.

Meanwhile back at Rutgers where Stringer was adding to her history that includes her 1000th career triumph a month ago the Scarlet Knights had to fend off a rally by the Wildcats (7-5) coached by Father Judge graduate Joe McKeown.

A steal by Victoria Harris late in the game helped preserve to win for the home crowd, moving Rutgers to 8-3.

The Scarlet Knights’ Ciani Cryor had 13 points while Stasha Carey grabbed nine rebounds.

Lindsey Pullman, keying the rally, had a game-high 16 points for Northwestern while Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah grabbed 17 rebounds.

A 13-0 surge from the visitors in the third period reduced the Rutgers lead to a slim 34-31 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.

But in the next frame Northwestern took its first lead at 41-40 on a jumper from Jordan Hamilton in the paint with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in regulation, giving the crowd pause to remember several meltdowns on the road last month costing some important win perks in the Vancouver tournament in Canada.

However, Rutgers got the lead back at  42-41 with 57 seconds returning on Harris’ steal and two ensuing free throws.

A nearly perfect team 5-for-6 from the line — Cryor went 1-2 — preserved the win with Charise Wilson making the final two foul shots in the closing seconds as Northwestern missed shots from the field in that span.

“There were a lot of things we wanted to do which we usually do with the defenses, which were great today,” Stringer said of the way things went. 

She had noted in coming back from the break the team had less time to prepare for the resumption of the schedule.

“We feel great and relaxed,” she said of the team’s outlook in terms of longer prep time.

“It felt good,” Stringer said conceding she was unaware of the achievement. “I already got the ball for 1,000, right?

“Honestly, I didn’t think about it, I didn’t know about it, and it’s better for me not to know about it,” she smiled at the postgame presser. “I was so focused on getting the win. That’s what was important for this team.”

Of the frantic finish she agreed her team was calm and poised and “I was calm and poised and I’m not sure why because normally I would feel anxious. Within my own mind I was just calm and I don’t know why but I’m going to try to do it again.”

She said the steal came off her trademark 55 press defense and “it was major.”

Stringer is now  200-83 in the conference of which the Iowa 1983-95 era produced 169 wins while at Rutgers, which competed in the old Big East when Stringer arrived, has enabled her to tack on 31 with the Scarlet Knights.

Six men’s coaches with Big 10 victories top her on the combined listing headed by Bob Knight’s 353 at Indiana (1972-2000).

The Scarlet Knights are still unbeaten at home this season, now at 6-0, after using a season-high six steals to help collect the win.

A year ago Rutgers surged through the initial part of the conference slate only to go on a long slide at the end to lose its grip on an NCAA bid and then reject a follow-up WNIT bid it had initially indicated it might accept.

The heavy dose of Maryland and then still-powerful Ohio State didn’t even kick in play until late.

But this time, the challenge is coming quickly where Maryland, which dodged an upset at Penn State, is ranked fifth and will host Rutgers on Monday, New Year’s Eve at 12 p.m., at the Xfinity Center in College Park.

Then comes one more non-conference deal on Friday when Brown of the Ivy League visits at 7 followed by a return to the Big 10 hosting longtime rival Penn State, Sunday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m.

Maryland Closing Dominance Foils Penn State Upset Bid

Last week Maryland got to move into fifth in the AP Women’s poll after shaking off a pesky Delaware squad on the play of freshman Shakira Austin to close out the non-conference slate, stay unbeaten, while she earned another weekly honor from the conference.

On Friday, the Terrapins went the same route to subdue host Penn State in College Park at the Bryce Jordan Center after being challenged all day in their Big Ten opener except the veterans helped land the finishing punch this time around for a 77-61 final score that belies how it all went.

Kaila Charles had 16 of her 23 points in the second half while Stephanie Jones scored 17 to keep Maryland beaten overall at 12-0.

“I trust these two with everything,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said afterwards. “Just that aggressiveness in their trap-set, it was a slower-paced game to begin with so I thought that really raised the level of play.”

Penn State (7-5) had people across the country checking the scoreboard all afternoon poised to perhaps have the one of the big upsets of the season, let alone on Friday’s small return-to-work national schedule.

Austin may not have been the offensive leader in the stats but helped the defensive side with a game-high 11 rebounds, 10 in the second half, as the hosts were limited to just 12 shots in the final period.

Maryland dominated the boards 52-29 while Taylor Mikesell had 12 points to add to the day’s effort.

Penn State’s Teniya Page had another big outing with 24 points while Kamaria McDaniel scored 16.

“We did a pretty good job, defensively, for three quarters,” Lady Lions coach Coquese Washington stated the obvious. “I thought we were aggressive on both ends of the floor.”

The Terps jumped to a 15-8 opening advantage before PSU worked its way back into contention and went ahead at the end of the first half 41-39.

“I thought it was a wakeup call for us,” Frese said. “You see what conference play looks like.”

As mentioned, Maryland, a former Atlantic Coast Conference member who competed prior to that in the pre-NCAA days in the same AIAW Region IB with Penn State and Rutgers finishes its opening weekend against its longtime rivals hosting Rutgers at noon on Monday.

The Lady Lions head to Indiana, which had to go into overtime in its conference opener  to win at Illinois 85-83 to improve to 12-1 overall. The Illini dropped to 8-4.

A conference opening upset occurred when host Nebraska beat Michigan 70-56 to get to .500 overall at 6-6 and the Wolverines dropped to 9-4.

But rookie coach Lindsay Whelan in her new career after a stellar era as an all-pro in the WNBA continues to meet the initial challenges, this time grabbing her first conference appearance, guiding her alma mater and No. 12 Minnesota to a 74-56 win over Wisconsin as the Gophers stayed unbeaten at 12-0 overall, the game played in Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The opening burst with the record is the same produced when Whalen was a senior in 2003 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. The total is just three short of the 15-0 set a year earlier as a junior.

The home team led all the way with Kenisha Bell getting 17 points and 10 rebounds, her initial double double on the season, while Annalese Lamke scored 20 points.

Wisconsin at 9-4 hasn’t started this well since 2009-10, nine seasons ago for the best opening since Jonathan Tsipis, a former Notre Dame associated head coach, left George Washington of the Atlantic 10 where he revived the Colonials.

However, none of the Badgers were able to produce in double digits.

Division III News: Amherst Out-Foxes Westfield State

Abington’s Hannah Fox out of the Philadelphia suburbs who plays in the widely popular summer league in Hatboro snapped a 20-year-old single game school record at two-time defending Division III NCAA champion Amherst with 43 points as the Mammoths lived up to their mascot nickname with a 104-79 victory in the D3 Hoops.com Invitational at South Point in Las Vegas Friday afternoon.

Amherst won the title unbeaten at 33-0 but the three-year win streak was halted at 68 on Nov. 20 by Eastern Connecticut State, which grabbed a narrow 70-67 win in the title game of Amherst’s own tournament in Massachusetts in LeFrak Gymnasium as the Warriors rallied from a 15-point deficit late in the game and outscored the Mammoths 26-8 in the final 10 minutes.

In that game down the stretch Mya Villard, who had a game-high 23 points, nailed shots with 23 and 57 seconds left in the game to keep the visitors ahead.

Fox, who had 21 that night, answered the first go-ahead but was unable to reverse the second one. At the finish, Julie Keckler’s two free throws made it a three-point game and Amherst missed a three-ball as time expired trying to send the game into overtime.

On Friday, Fox shot 19-for-25 from the field for 76 percent which also set a new school mark for field goals made and had a game-high 12 rebounds.

The squad is 8-1 this season to date and the 100 plus points are the first in eight seasons.

Fox broke the previous record of 37 by the time the game reached into the third quarter.

She is averaging 21.9 points per game, shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 42.1 percent at three-point range.

“Hannah plays with tremendous passion,” said Guru colleague Scott Granowitz out of Boston. “She’s one of the best D3 players I’ve seen.”

The opposition Owls (4-6) got a moral victory scoring the most against Amherst all season as Lucy Barrett scored 24 points.

The last team to handle Amherst defenses so well was St. Thomas in the Division III third-place game in 2012, scoring 87.

The Mammoths only shot five treys but overall strafed the opposition with a 62.3 percent from the field.

Kathryn Hersey scored 37 for the previous Amherst mark on January 30, 1999.

Nearly seven years ago Amherst beat WPI 109-39 according to the team website report.

The best one-day team attack produced 117 points by the Mammoths in 2008 and 1996.

Wisconsin Stevens Point will face Amherst next on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Time in the second round.

Looking Ahead: Nova Opens Big East Slate Hosting Butler on National TV

Three of the locals on the Guru slate are playing Saturday as the 2018 portion of the season comes to a close over the next three days.

The highlight is out on the Main Line Saturday night where Villanova (8-2) will host Butler in an overall key match up at 8 p.m. in Finneran Pavilion.

Butler (10-1) has had a strong start going while at the moment the Wildcats and Penn are the top two Division I teams in the area, an issue to be settled late next month, though Drexel having been routed by the Quakers last week, are still right there with the other two.

That will be ‘Nova’s last non-conference action until March Madness comes around.

Two others are in non-conference play on Saturday as Ivy favorite Princeton tries to keep its streak alive with a visit to New Hampshire at 1 p.m. in the home state of Courtney Banghart, who played at Dartmouth.

Speaking of Drexel, the the Dragons visit Richmond of the Atlantic 10 in a 2 p.m. meeting in the Robins Center trying to rebound from its neighborhood handling by the Quakers last Friday.

On Sunday just one game at 2 p.m. as Temple hosts La Salle in a Big Five game at the Owls’ McGonigle Hall, one of the rare home games since November.

The Explorers showed signs of coming around winning the first two of their three-game trip to Providence while Temple also has been struggling off their long road trek.

The Owls with a win go to 2-1 in the City and will remain in the hunt for a piece of the title which they can get by winning at Penn next month providing the Quakers don’t lose to Villanova a week later.

It’s possible both Penn, which upset the Wildcats on the Main Line last season to earn a piece of the title with them, and Villanova will be 3-0 when they meet, giving the Palestra hosts a shot at their third crown share or first-ever outright championship in the local round robin.

Speaking of Penn, on Monday New Year’s Eve, the Quakers finish non-conference play ahead of the looming Ivy tilt at Princeton by visiting Stetson in Florida at 11 a.m. shopping more than hats to wear at the stroke of 12.

As mentioned, Rutgers is at Maryland at noon and nearby at 6 Saint Joseph’s visits Navy, pending any problems from the government shutdown. The late start in Annapolis is due to the Military Bowl football clash at Navy earlier in the day. Penn State is at Indiana at 7.

But there is a game early enough here as Villanova finishes its opening Big East weekend hosting Xavier at 1 p.m.

Nationally, also at 8 on the Big East card No. 19 DePaul hosts Creighton and also in the conference, No. 22 Marquette hosts Providence at 3, and Xavier is at Georgetown at 5 p.m.

On Sunday the other Big East opener involves travel partners with St. John’s visiting Seton Hall at 1 p.m.

In a game of feature interest, No. 2 Notre Dame hosts Lehigh giving Muffet McGraw a chance to coach against the school that gave her first collegiate head coaching job. It has a 1 p.m. tip.

Harvard is at No. 14 California at 5 p.m. while No. 12 Minnesota is at Michigan at 2 and in another big East tilt of note Creighton is at No. 22 Marquette at 3 p.m.

And that is the report.