The Guru Report: No. 20 Rutgers and Rider Stay Perfect in Conference Play While Drexel Moves Closer to First

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

No. 20 Rutgers and Rider completed another winning week Sunday to stay atop their Big Ten and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences while Drexel with some help elsewhere continued a climb out of the disastrous opening weekend earlier this month to improve the Dragons’ pursuit of another regular season Colonial Athletic Association championship.

On the flip side, Penn State stayed in contention a bit before falling at No. 9 Maryland involving the other Guru local in the Big Ten while Delaware’s bright start on Friday with a CAA win flamed out up in Boston at Northeastern.

Since both are locals it was up one and down one as Saint Joseph’s in the first of two meetings with its  nearby Atlantic 10 rival La Salle defeated the Explorers at home on Alumni Day with Alyssa Monaghan compiling a career-high 25 points.

That game which the Guru was on the scene against La Salle is chronicled separately below this roundup.

Earlier on the weekend, in a game moved from Sunday to Saturday as a precaution against severe weather becoming disruptive, Temple played respectable but still lost to No. 2 Connecticut in the Liacouras Center while Villanova on the road ran out of scoring fuel in the closing minutes in the nation’s capital and lost to Georgetown dropping further in the quagmire that is the bottom of the Big East.

Then there is the overall national scene in which more teams in the week’s total of Associated Press ranked schools with losses increased to 13, one of the more severe group setbacks in the 43-year history of the rankings.

All that said, let’s look at the results in a packaged format.

Rutgers Continues to Soar in the Big Ten While Penn State Setbacks Continue

The Scarlet Knights hosted No. 17 Michigan State and this time had no worries about blown leads in a 76-62 victory to maintained a two-game lead atop the Big Ten standings, running their unbeaten conference record to 7-0 while Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer’s squad is still perfect at home at 10-0.

Rutgers (15-3, 67-0) has also won 10 straight and will probably make a big jump in Monday’s new Associated Press rankings in light of the number of teams who took hits since the last poll that brought the Scarlet Knights back into the AP rankings for the first time since a brief two-week stay virtually a year ago.

In case you’re starting to wonder about other numbers, the last 7-0 start in conference competition was in 2008 in the old Big East for Rutgers and the most wins compiled in the Big Ten was 12 in 2015, the team’s first season in its current league.

In this one Rutgers remained the irresistible object with the conference’s top defense prevailing against the Spartans (13-5, 3-4), the irresistible force with the best offense and continued to hold each of 18 teams (all of them on the schedule) below their scoring averages.

It’s  the second ranked team Rutgers has beaten this season and in this one redshirt senior Stasha Carey had 30 points for a career high while Arella Guirantes had 19 points as the other player to score in double figures for the home team.

Taryn McCutcheon and Sydney Cooks each scored 15 points for Michigan State, which took an early lead until Rutgers erased the 5-0 start and then kept going from there. Cooks also had nine rebounds.

The Spartans arrived with an 80.6 scoring average and was held 18 points below and to just 24 points at the half, lowest total this season.

Rutgers next hits the road this week with visits to No. 22 Iowa (14-4, 5-2) on Wednesday and then Sunday at Penn State (9-9, 2-5) , which lost at No. 9 Maryland 79-67 Sunday after the Terrapins (16-2, 5-2) had fallen earlier at Michigan State.

The Lady Lions got 20 points from Teniya Page and 13 from Siyeh Frazier while Alisa Smith had nine points and nine rebounds, Lauren Ebo had seven points and nine rebounds, and Frazier had eight rebounds.

The Lady Lions got swept on the season by the Terrapins, whose Taylor Mikesell scored 23 points and Kalia Charles scored 19, while Shakira Austin, the reigning USBWA national freshman of the week, had 13 points and 10 rebounds along with blocking three shots.

Brianna Frasier also scored in double figures for Maryland with 13 points off the bench.

The teams traded differentials in the first two periods with the Terrapins taking a 13-point lead in the opening quarter only to have the Lady Lions rally in the second for a 35-35 tie at the break.

But the home team went on to duplicate 22-16 advantages the next two periods for the final score.

“We had a load to deal with today, especially their post play,” said PSU coach Coquese Washington as Maryland avoided slipping further than two games behind Rutgers. “When they’re post players play as well as they did today, they’re very tough to handle.

“I thought we played with a lot of fight and a lot of effort and there are a lot of things we can learn and carry with us as we finish out and continue with Big Ten play.”

Penn State next travels to Wisconsin at 8 before coming home Sunday to host Rutgers.

Drexel Moves Within a Game of the CAA Frontrunners While Delaware Falls at Northeastern

The Dragons continued mopping up true road wins at 7-0 on the season and completed a weekend sweep beating Hofstra 61-49 for their third straight overall in a wire-to-wire victory over the Pride (6-12, 0-6), at the Mack Center in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island.

Hofstra, winless in the CAA, is alone in 10th and last place.

Drexel (11-5, 3-2) is now a game behind in the loss column to the tri-leaders of preseason favorite James Madison and Towson, both of which suffered their first CAA setbacks being upset by UNCW, which moved within a half-game behind them in third.

William & Mary has the same CAA mark as the Dragons.

Bailey Greenberg, who had a career-high 26 points and the game-winner Friday night at Northeastern, had 13 against Hofstra along with seven rebounds while Hannah Nihill scored 12, half of which came from making both three-ball attempts.

Aubree Brown had 10 points as once again, Drexel, leading the nation in scoring defense below 50 points maintained that stand holding Hofstra to 49 points.

The Dragons had lost six of seven in the series with Hofstra on Long Island before winning two straight in Hempstead.

In a big weekend ahead, Drexel comes home to host Charleston Friday in the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 7 and then take on UNCW at home Sunday at 2 p.m.

Delaware, meanwhile, fell to eighth tied with Charleston after falling at Northeastern to the Huskies 75-62.

Northeastern (13-4, 3-3) after losing Friday at home to Drexel moved into sixth a half-game behind the Dragons and William & Mary and a half ahead of Elon (7-9, 2-3 CAA), the defending conference tournament champion who also has a lost to UNCW.

Delaware (6-11, 1-4) is a half-game overall ahead of Charleston.

The Blue Hens faded in the final period but were led by Bailey Kargo, who scored 18 points, spurred by four 3-pointers, while freshman Jasmine Dickey had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Abby Gonzales had 14 points in the game not played in the Cabot Center where the Northeastern women play the most but in Matthews Arena, home to the men’s basketball team and men’s and women’s ice hockey squad in the world’s oldest multi-purpose athletic building.

It’s the first time Delaware has played in that arena.

“This one’s tough,” said second-year coach Natasha Adair. “We did a lot of things well but we let the league’s top scorer (Jess Genco) get 32 points. Kudos to Northeastern and what they’ve done as a program.

“The biggest thing we need to do is focus and be consistent for an entire 40 minutes … We need to put it all together to come out with the win.”

Delaware is home this weekend, hosting UNCW at noon in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark on Friday and then hosting Charleston at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Rider Remains Unbeaten In First in the MAAC With Quinnipiac

Just like the landmark run two seasons ago, Rider is still in the hunt for a regular season MAAC title after a sixth-straight win, beating host Manhattan 73-63 in Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, N.Y.

Stella Johnson and Lexi Posset each poured 22 points for the visiting Broncs (10-7, 6-0) while Lea Favre scored 15 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field.

Kania Pollock had 20 points for the Jaspers (3-13, 1-4) while Courtney Warley scored 16, and Sydney Watkins scored 12.

“We started the first and third quarters really strong today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Today our biggest mistake was letting our fouls take us out of rhythm. With the clock stopping all the time it was hard for us to find our flow.

“Manhattan is a good team offensively. Stella’s points today were tough ones. Manhattan guarded her hard,” Milligan said. “Stella always does whatever she has to do to help our team win. That’s what she did again today. She draws a lot of attention from opposing defenses.

“For her to continue to do what she’s doing is a credit to her hard work.

“The best thing right now is that we don’t play again until Saturday. We’re coming off a stretch where we played three games in five days. I’m really proud of our effort. To be 6-0 in the league with four of those wins coming on the road is tough.”

Rider has now beaten Manhattan six straight times. The 6-0 MAAC mark is the best under Milligan and in program history one game ahead of the 5-1 opening two seasons ago during the best overall season in history.

The Broncs on Saturday will host Canisius at 2 p.m. on ESPN3 looking for their fifth straight against the Griffs.

Villanova and Temple Drop Games Sinking Further in Conference Standings

The Wildcats held a 59-51 lead in the nation’s capital at Georgetown in McDonough Arena on Saturday but a 7-0 run from the Hoyas in the fourth period led to them closing out to a 68-63 win in the Big East.

Mary Gedaka had 16 points and eight rebounds for Villanova in the fifth straight game in the series decided by five points or less. Kelly Jekot scored 15 points, Adrianna Hahn had 12 points on four triplets, and Jannah Tucker scored 11.

Georgetown’s Dorothy Adomako had 28 points and 11 rebounds while Dionna White had 25 points.

Villanova (11-7, 2-5 Big East), which snapped a three-game conference losing streak stepping outside Wednesday to beat Penn and win the Big Five outright, dropped to eighth place in the conference while the Hoyas (9-9, 3-4) moved a game ahead into seventh.

It’s a logjam behind front running Marquette (16-3, 7-0), ranked 14th in the AP Poll, and Butler (16-32, 6-1).

The Wildcats Friday at 7 visits Seton Hall at Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J., just after the Pirates (12-6, 4-3) upset No. 24 DePaul 84-73 in Chicago to move into a third-place tie with the Blue Demons ((13-6, 4-3).

Temple, meanwhile, played No. 2 Connecticut a day earlier on Saturday with the game moved up in light of the weather forecasts and the Owls fell 88-67 in the larger Liacouras Center in the American Athletic Conference.

Crystal Dangerfield had a career-high 26 points for the Huskies (16-1m 5-0 AAC) and dealt nine assists to keep UConn unbeaten in all games in AAC history at 106-0.

“I think she was on her game tonight,” Hall of Fame Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said of Dangerfield. “She made shots, she got people shots and she managed the game. That about says it all.”

Napheesa Collier had a season-high 30 points and 12 rebounds, whose only loss has been at No. 3 Baylor six games ago. Megan Walker scored 11 and Katie Lou Samuelson scored 10.

Temple’s Aliya Butts scored 17 for the Owls (4-13, 0-5), who next visit Penn Wednesday night and then host East Carolina Saturday in McGonigle Hall.

Desiree Oliver had her first double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Mia Davis and Alexa Williamson each scored 11,

“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza, who was a Connecticut assistant 14 seasons before succeeding Dawn Staley in 2008-09.

“It wasn’t about them. We had a long talk. We had to be different and I saw signs from some players,” Cardoza said about not getting embarrassed the way many teams do in the conference playing Connecticut.

Nationally Noted: N.C. State Stays Unbeaten in Overtime Win Avoiding Wave of Upsets

The No. 8 Wolfpack are the last unbeaten men’s or women’s team in Division I but nearly lost that distinction of staying alive after being forced into overtime before beating visiting Virginia Tech 70-61 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.

Aislinn Konig had 20 points for coach Wes Moore’s squad (18-0, 5-0 ACC), which also got 25 from Kiara Leslie.

Taylor Emery with a steal on an inbound play had a chance to win the game in regulation for the Hokies (13-5, 0-5) but missed the second of two free throws at the finish.

Purdue beat No. 25 Indiana 56-53 in the Big Ten, which also saw host Nebraska surprise No. 23 Minnesota 63-57.

 Georgia Tech took down No. 12 Syracuse in an ACC game in Atlanta riding Kierra Fletcher’s 22 points and Elizabeth Balogun had 20 for the Yellow Jackets (13-6, 3-3).  The Orangewomen (14-3, 3-1) departed from a nine-game win streak and got 15 points from Miranda Drummond.

No. 19 Arizona State upset No. 10 Oregon State 79-76 in double overtime in a Pac-12 game in Portland.

Kianna Ibis had 28 points for the Sun Devils (13-5, 4-3), who may have dodged getting ousted from the poll, though the Beavers (15-3, 5-1) will likely drop from the top 10.

And that’s the Report.