The Guru Report: Drexel Stunned By Towson at Home While Villanova Surprises Creighton on Road

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — First time long time which has been one of the trends in general this women’s collegiate basketball season struck in opposite directions at two locations Friday night among the Guru’s four D-1 teams that saw action.

In the Midwest Villanova ended a drought narrowly picking up a key win in the Big East by edging Creighton 54-52 at xx in Omaha, Neb. for the first road win over the Blue Jays to start the second weekend in conference play.

Unfortunately another trend snapper did not go so well for Villanova coach Harry Perretta’s prodigy here where one of his former star players in Denise Dillon saw her Drexel squad get nipped at the buzzer by Towson 55-54 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener at the Dragons’ Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The other two games went as expected with host Delaware in another CAA opener getting routed by league favorite James Madison 68-43 at the Blue Hens’ Bob Carpenter Center in Newark while in a non-conference game Rutgers avoided being trapped by pulling away to beat Ivy member Brown 73-52 at home in the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.

In the game here the visiting Tigers (7-5) completed a roaring second half comeback with Kionna Jeter bringing Towson to its ninth tie at 53-53 with three seconds left before fouling out and then Nukiya Mayo making a short shot from outside the paint as time expired.

The upset ended Drexel’s longest win streak against an opponent at 19 games as Towson got its first series win since 2010.

That’s not the way it seemed life would turn out for the home team at halftime when Drexel (8-4) with the No. 1 defensive scoring average in the nation (46.0) seemed poised for a win smothering the Tigers with a 25-12 lead off a 13-2 performance in the second quarter.

But the Tigers came firing out of the break suddenly becoming long-range terrors with 5-for-7 on three-point shots to fuel a 21-11 third-period domination and make it a nail-biter the rest of the way.

It’s the most points in a period allowed to a Drexel opponent all season as well as Towson’s total points production.

Not only did the rivalry streak come to a bitter end for the Dragons but the loss was also the first in a CAA opener since the 2010-11 season and the unfortunate part is JMU will complete the weekend here Sunday at 2, creating the threat of an 0-2 start in league play and at home.

“A tale of two halves for sure,” Dillon said afterwards. “They kept going. Give Towson credit. They came out in that second half with a clean slate, picked it up on defense and created a lot of offense for themselves with the offensive rebounds and the one-on-one action they were able to capitalize.”

Drexel, which has had trouble scoring all season, missed its first 15 attempts from beyond the arc and finished with three for the game, two by freshman Keishana Washington to keep the Dragons from getting bypassed in a rush.

“That’s not who we are, maybe a little bit in the past,” Dillon said of the inefficiency. “52 was our goal (in terms of defense). Hold them to 52 and we have a chance to win the game.

“This isn’t new for us doing the scouting report. It’s new for a lot of the players out on the floor in understanding who we are and what we are. We’re not there offensively,” she continued.

“On another note, I felt we had some cleaner looks than we got in past games with our cuts. I thought our passes were sharp. So we missed from the three but we were also missing layups and shots around the basket as well.”

Jeter, who leads the conference with a 20.2 scoring average, had 21 for the game for Towson while Mayo scored 13.

Ironically, on an earlier visit to the city last month for a non-conference game, Towson put away Saint Joseph’s for a second-straight win in the home-and-home arrangement by using a strong second half against the Hawks.

For Drexel here, Bailey Greenberg scored 17 while Washington had 12.

“We knew with the start of the season and knowing it was Towson here at home and JMU, tonight was huge,” Dillon said of the lost opportunities. “It was huge for a number of reason. It’s the start of the conference. A team like Towson is playing some good basketball, athletically. It’s a tough matchup for us and having JMU, which is extremely challenging, on Sunday, tonight was big.

“We did not come out of the locker room for the second half, and that’s disappointing.”

For all the flaws, the game was winnable at the finish but in general the place where Drexel unfortunately shot best was in its foot.

Aubree Brown missed a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left and then Jeter snapped a 49-49 tie for a two-point lead. Drexel’s Greenberg got a lead with 36 seconds left on a three-pointer at 52-51.

Given a chance to get the game to at least potential overtime territory Niki Metzel went 1-for-2 from the line for just a 53-51 lead allowing Jeter’s chance to successfully tie things up.

Then the usually reliable sophomore Hannah Nilhill went just 1-for-2 with three seconds left to give Mayo a chance to get the game-winner off in a tick of time.

Drexel forced 23 turnovers to only committing 11 by comparison though the work there went for naught.

Now the Dragons have 24 hours to shake this one off to try and replicate the win here that a year ago at the end of the schedule caused a split with the Dukes and a first-place tie yielding the No. 1 seed in the CAA tourney Drexel hosted, though falling short in the title game to Elon.

“That’s the challenge. You don’t have time to sulk and if you do then you miss an opportunity the next game. Here’s an opportunity to see how we’re going to be able to absorb another hit. It’s up to them. This is a great opportunity for the team, do they want to be out there and get better each and every day.”

Elsewhere in the CAA, as mentioned JMU topped Delaware 68-43 at home where the Blue Hens (5-8) will host Towson coming out of the upset here.

“We can’t stop. We have to keep this thing going,” Towson coach Diana Richardson said of not letting up leaving here to head an hour South to Newark.

In the Delaware loss, the Blue Hens suffered season lows in points, field goal percentage at .254, field goals made at 17, three-point shooting at .091 and foul shooting at .361.

No one scored in double figures for the home team, the best being nine points from Makeda Nicholas.

JMU (9-3) got 18 points and 10 rebounds from Devon Merritt, 14 points and seven rebounds from Neumann-Goretti grad Kamiah Smalls, the preseason player of the year; 18 rebounds from Kayla Cooper-William, and 12 points from Jackie Benitez.

“There will always be bigger, stronger, faster teams,” said Delaware coach Natasha Adair. “The outcome is all about fight, heart and pride.

“We got to the rim but you can’t shoot 8-for 22 from the foul line and think you’re going to win.”

Delaware’s Samone DeFreese echoed her coach’s sentiments, saying, “One game won’t define us for the season but this is a huge wakeup call. We didn’t do the little things we needed to do to win.”

Other scores from CAA opening night showed William & Mary won at Hofstra, 60-55, the winning Tribe going overall at 8-4 and the losing Pride dropping to 6-7; host Northeastern topping defending CAA tourney champion Elon 79-71 as the Huskies continue their landmark season at 11-1 while Elon fell to 5-7 overall; and host UNCW defeating Charleston 71-49, for an overall record of 8-4 while the visitors fell to 4-8.

Villanova Edges Creighton

Following Monday’s narrow home escape of Xavier, the Wildcats won another close one, triumphing 54-52 over Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, to win the start of the first Big East road trip of the weekend for Villanova (10-3, 2-1 Big East) against a Blue Jays squad (7-7, 1-2) that had won the last 6-of-7 in the series.

The one ‘Nova win  at home a year ago when the schools split the annual two-game conference series in the regular season.

In Omaha, however, ‘Nova had gone empty-handed in the past four years.

In the latest Friday, Perretta’s group emerged from a 42-42 deadlock after three periods and rode a pair of back-to-back layups by Mary Gedaka to take a small advantage midway through the last stanza and then had Adrianna Hahn connect at the foul line several times to stay ahead at the finish.

Hahn’s jumper with less than two minutes in regulation was the one of the Wildcats’ final seven shots to hit the mark in the final five minutes.

“It was huge to a get a win,” Perretta told the Omaha World-Herald after the game. “They’re like our kryptonite.”

Compensating for the cold spell, Villanova relied on a defense that limited the Blue Jays to 3-for-10 from the field in the fourth period.

During the drought Creighton committed two offensive fouls, a pair of attempted three-balls, and two layups.

Gedaka had a team-high 14 points while Hahn scored 11 and grabbed six rebounds. Bridget Herlihy came off the bench to also reach double figures, scoring 11 points.

‘Nova had trailed by as much as 10 points early in the contest before rallying back into contention.

Creighton’s Audrey Faber scored a game-high 20 points and Temi Carda had 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double double.

The Wildcats will finish the two-game trip on Sunday at Providence at 1 p.m. while the Blue Jays will have to deal with a Georgetown team that won at Providence 68-52 as Dionna White scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Hoyas (8-6, 2-1 Big East).

White is the current national player of the week as picked by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Jovana Nogic scored 15 for the Friars (8-7, 0-3) at Alumni Hall/Mullaney Gym.

In a rare matchup of nationally-ranked teams in the conference since realignment  the game did not match the anticipation as No. 20 Marquette ousted No. 24 DePaul 96-63.

The only other pairing of Associated Press women’s poll teams in the conference came when DePaul met Seton Hall on Jan. 5, 2016.

Natisha Hideman tied her career high with 32 points for the Golden Eagles (12-3, 3-1), which hosted the game in Milwaukee against the Blue Demons (10-5, 1-2) in the Al McGuire Center.

Amani Wilborn scored 20 points for the home team while Danielle King scored 19 and Selena Lott had 11. The game was over quickly as Marquette bolted to a 29-9 lead in the first period and outscored DePaul 26-10 in a third period that featured a 19-0 run by the winners.

Mart’e Grays had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the visitors in getting her second straight double double while Ashton Millender scored 11.

DePaul was forced into enough turnovers to enable the Golden Warriors to capitalize 33-15 in points off transitions.

Butler stayed unbeaten in league play after a narrow 62-59 win at home for the Bulldogs (13-1, 3-0) against Seton Hall (9-4, 1-1) in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Kaela Hilaire had 15 points for the visiting Pirates and Tori Schickel had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Butler.

In the other conference game St. John’s won 76-57 at Xavier in Cincinnati at the Cintas Center as Akina Wellere scored 21 points for the visiting Red Storm (8-5, 1-1), including her 1,000th point and Ariana Gray scored 16 points for the Musketeers (9-5, 0-3).

Rutgers Claims Brown For Fifth Straight

The streaking Scarlet Knights did not get trapped in a non-conference visit from Brown of the Ivy League, pulling away for a 73-52 victory over the Bears (8-8) in the Rutgers Athletic Center following Monday’s upset of No. 4 Maryland on the road in the. Big Ten and ahead of Sunday’s 4 p.m. visit from regional and conference rival Penn State.

Seeking a potential ranking in the next AP Poll, Rutgers (10-3) is perfect at home in seven games this season.

Stasha Carey scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights while Noga Peleg had career bests of four three-balls and 19 points, and Jordan Wallace had a career-high 12 points.

Taylor Will had 15 points and Shayna Mehta scored 10 for Brown.

Nationally Speaking: Four of Five Ranked Pac-12 Avoid Upsets

With the large number of ranked teams in the Pac-12, that’s where the action among the national elite will be most Friday nights as the league battles each other.

Other than No. 5 Oregon, an 84-71 winner hosting Washington, the others were all involved in single-digit outcomes with No. 18 California losing at home to UCLA 84-79 in overtime in Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

In the Oregon game, Erin Boley, a transfer from from Notre Dame, had a career-high 28 points  in the  league opener at home in Eugene while all-American Sabrina Ionescue had 20 points and 10 assists.

Satou Sabally added 19 and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Ducks (12-1) and Ruthy Hebard had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The score is a bit deceptive because Washington (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12) started sensing an upset coming within a point in the fourth period before Oregon closed it out on an 18-6 run.

The Huskies’ Alexis Griggsby had a career-high 26 points as a reserve and Amber Melgoza scored 23.

Washington had rallied with a 24-10 run to trail 66-65 before Oregon killed the upset.

To the South, UCLA has been in a rebuilding mode but the Bruins (9-5, 2-0) showed growth as Michaela Onyenwere scored 29 and forced the overtime with a putback  to take over the rest of the way.

Kristine Anigwei had 32 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears (9-3, 0-1) in their league opener.

No. 22 Arizona State escaped Utah 65-63 thanks to Reili Richardson’s 20-foot bank shot launched off balance in Salt Lake City to spoil an upset bid by the home team (12-1, 1-1).

The loss was the first for Utah, leaving just Louisville, North Carolina State, and Ohio U. As the last unbeaten teams in the country.

Kianna Ibis made consecutive 3 pointers to tie the game for the Sun Devils (10-3, 1-1), who got 15 points from Courtney Ekmark. 

Megan Huff had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Utah.

No. 11 Oregon State at home in Corvallis foiled Washington State’s surprise attack 76-69 as Taya Corosdale nailed a three-ball with two minutes left and the Beavers (11-2,n1-0) rode the lead to a 12-4 run to close out the game in their league opener.

The Cougars (7-6, 1-1) got 24 points from Borislava Hristova while Chanelle Molina had  16 points and 10 rebounds.

Mikayla Pivec had 14 points for Oregon State, Destiny Slocum scored 12 points, and Aleah Goodman scored 10.

At No. 6 Stanford, the Cardinal’s Kiana Williams had 13 of her 22 points in the second half to give the home team a 72-64 win over upset-minded Southern Cal (10-3, 0-2).

Alanna Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinal (1-1, 0-1). They have won five straight since an upset loss to Gonzaga, which is ranked.

Minyon Moore had 13 points for the Trojans.

Looking Ahead: Showdown at the Top in Ivy Opener

Saturday’s local slate involves league openers highlighted by the annual Penn/Princeton mens/womens doubleheader tipoff, which will this season launch at the Tigers’ Jadwin Gym in central New Jersey with the women going first at 2 p.m. and the men playing at 5.

What’s been different is now the two elite teams in the league on the women’s side no longer close it out in March since it would mean playing each likely twice within a week along with a potential third time with the advent of the Ivy Tournament, which will be at Yale after two successful seasons at The Palestra.

Penn has been a surprising 10-2 in its non-conference run while Princeton after going on a seven-game losing streak on a depleted roster has erased all that with the return of player of the year Bella Alarie to enter Saturday’s game at 8-7.

Again, the addition of the Ivy postseason takes some weight off the loser in this one in terms of getting to the NCAA tourney. The duo have won the last nine Ivy titles.

In the Atlantic 10, trying to thrive on the mantle everything is 0-0, when it’s not in the overall, Saint Joseph’s is at VCU while La Salle is at Dayton.

And in a game with both teams suffering injuries Temple hosts South Florida, the No. 2 preseason conference pick behind UConn,mmm at 3 p.m. in McGonigle Hall in an American Athletic Conference opener.

The Sunday games in the CAA, Big Ten, and Big East involving the locals have been mentioned above which leaves Rider hosting Fairfield at 2 at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., as one of the only teams who weren’t schedule Thursday night to get things going in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

And that’s the report.