The Guru Report: Parker’s Career Night For Penn Ruined By Villanova’s Outside Attack as Wildcats Win Big 5 Outright

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Career night did not translate into winning on Wednesday night at several places among the six games on the Guru’s local D-1 slate,  beginning right here in The Palestra where Penn junior Eleah Parker matched a personal best with 25 points and set another with 17 rebounds but when the game ended Villanova went back to the Main Line with a 58-50 victory and added another 4-0 outright Big Five trophy to the Wildcats’ collection.

In a first, Penn was considered the pre-game favorite because of its athleticism and its now-concluded five-game win streak while Villanova (11-6) was on a three-game skid overall within its Big East schedule.

A year ago Penn won just the third game in the long-running series between the two, claiming a 79-77 victory at Villanova on Anna Ross’ shot before the end of regulation as Parker also scored 25.

“They key to the game was they only scored 50 points,” Villanova veteran coach Harry Perretta said afterwards. “If they score 60 they win. Last year they scored 79 and won, this year they only got 50.”

The other key was Villanova’s weapon of choice and necessity — the three pointer — was powerful down the stretch as it had been two seasons ago when the Wildcats beat the Quakers (9-3, 2-1 Big Five) here.

In a game of runs Penn owned the first quarter 13-4 but ultimately squandered what had been an 11-point lead as Villanova closed the second with a 10-0 run to own the period 20-12 and trail at the break 25-24.

The streak continued into the third for the first two points but Penn fought back from a seven-point deficit to finish the third ahead 39-36.

But Jannah Tucker got things rolling in the fourth for the visitors with a deep three, Kelly Jekot hit one to bring Villanova back to a 44-44 tie, Tucker hit another three to take the lead for good at 47-45, then Adrianna Hahn connected from beyond the arc for three more and a 50-45 lead.

Tucker’s third three of the period got it to eight and Penn was not able to turn the tide in the face of the 5-for-7 long-range accuracy in the final 10 minutes and Villanova’s lopsided 22-11 score in that stretch.

In all, the Wildcats shot 11 three-balls compared to five from the Quakers, negating the home team’s huge 30-12 points in the paint advantage.

Penn had not played in 11 days since the upset win at preseason Ivy favorite and defending champion Princeton though the Quakers looked anything but rusty on the opening surge.

However, Phoebe Sterba, a heroine in the Ivy opener at Princeton, was the only other Penn player in double figures with 12 points, all courtesy of four connected three-balls. Princess Aghayere, who had been complementing Parker well, was held to seven points.

Villanova, meanwhile, got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Kelly Jekot, her first-ever double double, she also had four treys, while Hahn, who did not start, had 12 points, five assists, and also four treys, and Tucker had 11 points.

The Wildcats are 43-3 in the series and have won (10) or shared (6) 16 Big Five crowns. They lead the locals with 119 city series triumphs for a 119-39 mark in the round robin. Villanova is also 25-2 in all games played in The Palestra.

“Eleah was dominate but we just didn’t have enough around her,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “We did not have enough continuity on the offensive end.

“We need to know how to handle the runs, the adversity, and we did, but (Villanova) were a little better at the right time.”

Perretta pointed out that the plan was to score as many threes as possible. “If we get three threes, they need four twos,” he said. “When they got ahead they were never able to put a cushion on the lead.”

Jekot said he told the team not to worry about the early missed shots. “Harry reminded us that we are shooters and when the shots aren’t falling, keep shooting,” she said. “In the second half we kept shooting.”

While not everyone on the court grew up watching the Big Five battles on the men’s side besides the women, the mythical league is important to both coaches, Perretta is a Bonner grad, McLaughlin went to Father Judge.

“For us, it’s big. It’s a big thing in the city,” Perretta said. “It’s big for our kids. It’s big for Villanova. I’m just glad that we won.”

The outcome means that Penn’s next game, which is here next Wednesday against Temple, will determine the winner to get second at 3-1, which would still be nice for the once-doormat Quakers in the city, while the other team will be third at 2-2.

In the one of the two meetings in the Atlantic 10 between La Salle and Saint Joseph’s that also count in the local round robin city series, which is Sunday at Saint Joseph’s, the winner will be fourth with a victory and the loser will be fifth, having won none.

“As the season progresses and we get into the Ivies, our team will develop great chemistry, that will help us in the Ivy League and in the (conference) tournament,” Parker said. “When it gets down to those times, this will really help us.”

Penn after the Temple game hosts Division III Haverford a week from Sunday and then kicks into the back-to-back Friday/Saturday gauntlet in the Ivies, first making road stops February 1 and 2 at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. (7:30 p.m.) and Columbia (5:30 p.m.) in New York City.

Villanova resumes its Big East slate the rest of the way first visiting traveling partner Georgetown Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

La Salle and Saint Joseph’s Drop Atlantic 10 Games

Career nights gone for naught also happened to Saint Joseph’s, which lost on the road to Duquesne, 81-73, in Pittsburgh, while La Salle fell at home, both losses decided in the stretch drive with the Explorers losing to defending A-10 tournament champion George Washington 67-59 in La Salle’s Tom Gola Arena.

In the Saint Joseph’s loss at the A.J. Palumbo Center, Alyssa Monaghan, who recently achieved her 1,000th career point, matched her career best by scoring 23 points, shooting 9-for-15 from the floor, for the Hawks (5-12, 1-3 Atlantic 10) while Kristalyn Baisden matched her best, scoring 18 points, shooting 7-for-14 from the field, including 4-of-7 three-pointers.

The Saint Joseph’s total was a season best but was still not enough to overcome the Dukes (9-8, 3-1), the preseason favorites of the conference coaches.

The Hawks were still in contention, trailing 61-59 by a bucket with 7 minutes, 49 seconds to play before Duquesne then darted with a 17-6 closing run to seal the game.

Kadri-Ann Lass had a game-high 23 points for the Dukes, one of three players scoring in double figures for the home team, which shot 52.7 percent from the field, including 8-for-15 on three-point attempts, and also was 15-for-21 on the line.

Julijana Vojinovic had 21 points and Chassidy Omogrosso scored 17.

Saint Joseph’s hosts La Salle Sunday at 4 p.m. in Hagan Arena on Hawk Hill, with CBS Sports telecasting the event. Both teams are 0-3 in the Big Five.

In the La Salle game, yet another situation occurred when career-highs were wasted on the local front.

Rayshel Brown had a near double-double with 21 points and eight rebounds with the points being a new best and the rebounds matching a previous one, while Jeryn Reese surpassed previous career marks, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the Explorers (3-15, 0-4), her first double double.

La Salle stayed in range of George Washington (6-11, 3-1) but the Colonials’ push to a 55-44 lead in the fourth period withstood La Salle’s 15-12 finish.

As mentioned, the Explorers head to Saint Joseph’s next on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Rutgers Survives Purdue Rally Winning in Overtime to Stay Perfect in Big 10 Action

A year ago almost exactly, Rutgers, playing its best basketball in several seasons, cracked the Associated Press women’s poll for the first time since March of 2015, only to last just two weeks at the start of a major backstretch slide that cost the Scarlet Knights an at-large pick to the NCAA tournament.

On Monday, Rutgers made it back to the ranking again, powering into the Top 25 in a tie for No. 20 with floundering Tennessee.

Then came Wednesday night with a visit from long-time troublesome conference rival Purdue and it looked like more of the same with nine ties and a blown 14-point lead late in the game that took the affair in overtime but once again the home team showed ability to sustain a rally and then find a way to prevail at the finish.

In this one, the Scarlet Knights eked out a 65-63 win that improved the overall record to 14-3, including a perfect 9-0 mark this season in the Rutgers Athletic Center and 6-0 in the Big Ten, their best start since launching conference play in 2015 after a long stint in the old Big East and a transitional year in the American Athletic Conference.

Arella Guirantes had 17 points for the Scarlet Knights, Stasha Carey had 11, including her 1,000th career point, and Charise Wilson scored 10 points.

Karissa McLaughlin and Dominque Oden each scored 18 points for Purdue (13-6, 4-2), while Ae’Rianna Harris had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Rutgers seemed to be wrapping it all up well before the end of regulation leading the Boilermakers 54-40 with just under five minutes left before Purdue then exploded on a 14-0 run to force the game into overtime.

A perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the closing minute seconds before the end of the regulation gave the visitors new lives.

But in the extended five minutes, Rutgers never trailed and used a 6-for-6 from the line to finish the Boilermakers’ hopes.

Defensively, Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer’s group has held all 17 foes under their scoring averages.

Enjoying the comforts of home Rutgers next on Sunday will welcome Big Ten rival Michigan State, ranked 23, at 2 p.m.

Rider Still Perfect in MAAC After Win at Iona

The schedule maker was kind to Rider in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Broncs are taking advantage of it with powers Quinnipiac and Marist still a bit away on the horizon.

The shakedown in non-conference play in November and December continued to pay off on the road as Rider won at Iona 66-58 having to rally against the Gaels (1-15, 0-5 MAAC) in New Rochelle, N.Y. as Stella Johnson poured down a game-high 29 points.

It was the third straight road game win in the MAAC for the Broncs (8-7, 4-0), who are now over .500. on the overall season.

Johnson got 20 of her points in the first half as Rider fought off a brief Iona lead to go ahead 28-27 at the half.

Iona threatened near the finish to come within a field goal with two minutes left but the Broncs got a three-pointer from Johnson to extend the lead to 62-57 with 1:59 left.

The visitors sealed the win riding a 4-1 run the rest of the way.

Lexi Posset also scored in double figures, collecting 17 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field.

“I thought we stayed composed when they started to press us and we got some easy looks off that which helped us out,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Iona ran some really good sets against us today. I think they ran their offense well.

“We stuck together and made our free throws at the end. A road win in the MAAC is big and important and we’ll take it,” she continued.

“I think we’re a gritty team. I don’t think we’ve played our best basketball yet, which is a good thing. Our number one key when we’re on the road is defensive discipline. We had some lapses tonight, but when we needed to get big stops, we did.”

The triumph was Rider’s fifth straight in the series and it’s the first time in both program history and under Milligan that the Broncs have taken a 4-0 start in the MAAC.

Leading the conference in blocked shots, Rider stuffed Iona shots six times.

The run in the MAAC has a good chance to continue Friday night when the Broncs finally get home and will look to make it seven straight against Saint Peter’s when the Peahens visits Alumni Gym at 7.

Temple Unable to Stop Cincinnati Strong Finish

The Owls seemed hopeful of stopping their current skid but host Cincinnati exploded with a 17-0 run across the third and fourth periods to go on to a 72-52 win in an American Athletic Conference game.

In the longest of shots the next round doesn’t offer much promise either with No. 2 Connecticut visiting the Liacouras Center, the larger arena, not McGonigle Hall, Sunday at 1 p.m. in the annual We Back Pat game to support the Pat Summitt Foundation named for the late and legendary Tennessee Hall of Fame coach.

In the game against the Bearcats (9-8, 2-2 AAC), the Owls held an eight-point lead with 2:34 left in the third period before Cincinnati exploded to outscore Temple 35-7 over the final 12 minutes.

The Owls (4-12, 0-4), who have yet to win in the conference, were held to a season-low 29.7 percent from the field.

Lena Niang shot 5-for-8 from the field for 15 point for Temple, one less than Mia Davis, who scored 16 points. Alliya Butts had five points and five assists.

Nationally Noted: UConn’s Walker Outscores Tulane in Huskies Win

The final score in New Orleans in an AAC game read Connecticut 75-33 against Tulane but most of the No. 2 Huskies were just along for the ride as sophomore Megan Walker single-handedly was a one-woman tsunami against the Green Wave outscoring them by a point collecting 34, one place in this report where a career high was not a wasted effort.

The last male or female player to outscore an entire opponent was Steve Logan who outscored 

Southern Miss 41-37 Feb. 15, 2002 some 17 seasons ago.

There were several upsets suffered by teams in the AP Poll, as No. 11 Texas fell to unranked Kansas State 87-69 in a Big 12 game in Manhattan in the Midwest while unranked Northwestern upended No. 25 Indiana 75-69 in a Big Ten game in the host Hoosiers’ ccity of Bloomington.

In another Big 12 takedown, unranked West Virginia at home in Morgantown outlasted No. 18 Iowa State 73-64, on the road.

Looking Ahead: Showdown in the SEC

Looking to Thursday night, nationally, in the SEC, South Carolina which has remained ranked under Dawn Staley and now has avoided slipping out at No. 15 visits No. 7 Mississippi State, which has remained in Top 10 and is the top team in the conference.

No. 20 Tennessee with a three-game losing streak is at Alabama, a team that has gotten them in recent years in the SEC.

Locally in the Guru’s group, Penn State hosts Ohio State in a Big Ten game at 7 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

On Friday, locally, besides the Rider game, over in the Colonial Athletic Association, Drexel is at Northeastern in Boston at 7 while Delaware is at Hofstra at 11:30 a.m.

On Sunday the two road teams switch.

And that’s the report.