The Guru Report: Rutgers and Rider Win on Rallies While Drexel, Delaware and Villanova Suffer Setbacks

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — When it comes to the Guru’s D-1 Local Group who played Sunday afternoon New Jersey was the place to be with Rider and Rutgers both rallying to dynamic wins.

Certainly, it was less enjoyable this side of the Delaware River for teams calling home, as the Colonial Athletic Association duo of Drexel, here, and Delaware to the South, suffered losses, Villanova was an upset victim to the North, and Penn State was attached with an outcome on the wrong end of its visit to Rutgers.

Since your Guru was back here in Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center as the Dragons sought to shake off Friday’s tough buzzer-beating loss to Towson while facing CAA favorite James Madison, let’s deal with that one first.

The Drexel defense did its part but the Dragons’ offensive struggles once again effected a second half collapse, one in which they couldn’t hit a field goal in the final quarter with the downfall begun in the third resulting in a 51-35 defeat.

Thus at 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the CAA quickly trailing JMU (10-3, 2-0) by two games, Drexel will have to find its way and get some help if it will repeat with the No. 1 seed heading into the conference tourney at Delaware in March.

Bailey Greenberg had 17 points for Drexel while Metzel had 11 points and nine rebounds.

JMU’s Lexi Barrier, Kamiah Smalls, a Neumann-Goretti graduate who once again drew Mayor Kenny, and Kayla Cooper-Williams each scored 12 points and Cooper-Williams also grabbed 11 rebounds 

For the first twenty minutes it looked like the Dragons might minimize the damage from Friday’s loss by holding a slim halftime lead at 24-21.

Starting the third offered hope when the home team got back to a six-point lead at 27-21 on Niki Metzel’s three-ball but a slump reduced the opportunity to be stronger in control with Drexel not scoring again until Bailey Greenberg’s shot to make it 29-26 with 4:55 in the third.

The Dukes, however, finally stirred with a 5-0 run to tip the momentum in their direction that got enhanced exploding in a 12-0 run in the fourth.

Ultimately, it became a 21-3 run and an official blowout.

“Again, we talked about the importance of defense,” said Drexel coach Denise Dillon afterwards. “We set a goal each and every game, 51 was the goal, but we really struggled to put the ball in the basket.”

Dillon acknowledged that the team became deflated once JMU went ahead and said perhaps having a bye on Friday gives the team a chance to regroup before heading for the first of the home-and-home series with longtime rival Delaware Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

When the Dragons get there they will meet a Blue Hens group in a similar 0-2 conference start losing to the same teams in reverse order.

After handled by JMU Friday night, Delaware fell at home to Towson 56-48 on Sunday.

Like Drexel, the Blue Hens (5-9, 0-2) struggled from the field, going 15-for-78 for a program low of 19.2 percent and the total connections of 15 was also a season low.

Makeda Nicholas had a team high 14 points while freshman Jasmine Dickey grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Just as Towson (8-5, 2-0) broke long droughts in beating Drexel Friday, the win by the Tigers was the first over Delaware in four seasons and the first in Newark in 11 seasons.

It’s also the first 2-0 start for Towson in the CAA in five seasons.

Kionna Jeter, the league’s leading scorer, had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers while Nukiya Mayo scored 13 and grabbed eight rebounds, and Maia Lee grabbed 11 rebounds. 

“Our defense did what it was supposed to do,” Delaware coach Natasha Adair said afterwards. “But it’s a two-part game, you have to get stops and then you have to score. This is a team right now that is still searching for that leader, for that person that, at the end of the day, just wants to step right up and knock it down.

“And we will find that person or we will do it by committee. But this is a group that will continue to fight and I stand firm on us being the best team that we could be in March.” 

Rutgers Rally Tops Penn State As Scarlet Knights Eye Ranking

Completing one of the better weeks for notable wins in recent seasons Rutgers shook off a 10-point deficit to regional rival Penn State in the Big Ten with a second quarter surge to go on to a 74-61 victory at home in the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.

The seven-day period began with an upset at No. 4 and conference favorite Maryland last Monday and then continued at home this weekend, beating Brown of the Ivy League Friday night and then subduing the Lady Lions (8-7, 1-3 Big Ten) on Sunday.

With teams in the bottom half of the Associated Press women’s poll taking hits, vacancies will occur that could allow Rutgers (11-3, 3-0) to enter the rankings for the first time this season after a brief appearance a year ago.

The Scarlet Knights have won six straight and are unbeaten at home at 8-0.

Arella Guirantes had career and game highs of 24 points for the Knights and also grabbed nine rebounds. Ciani Cryor and Charise Wilson added nine points each. Rutgers had 13 steals in the game.

Teniya Page had 23 points for the Lady Lions who also got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Alisia Smith.

In the second quarter, a Rutgers 13-0 surge enabled the lead to be re-gained.

After the break a 12-0 run enabled the Knights to maintain the lead the rest of the way.

It was Rutgers’ largest rally of the season and all 14 foes have been held under their average.

This week the Knights will be on the road in the conference, visiting Illinois on Wednesday and then Nebraska on Sunday.

Penn State hosts Illinois Saturday afternoon at 2 in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Rider Rallies to Take MAAC Opener Over Fairfield

Two seasons ago Rider enjoyed its greatest season with a series of improbable triumphs.

The Broncs replicated those times Sunday erasing a 14-point deficit to beat Fairfield 62-59 in their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener at home in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The comeback enabled Rider (5-7, 1-0 MAAC) to snap a two-game losing streak at home as the Stags (3-10, 0-2) were left still looking for their first conference win.

Stella Johnson had a career-high 35 points continuing a terrific season that saw her early get the program’s first triple double.

Fairfield had built a 14-point lead midway through the third period when the Broncs launched a 9-0 run to close the gap to five at 45-40 on Amari Johnson’s jumper.

The Stags still looked in good shape when they re-energized their way to a 55-46 lead with 5:12 left in regulation.

But Rider responded again, going on an 11-5 run to get a tie at 57 on Johnson’s three-ball with 2:07 left in regulation.

She hit two foul shots with 32 seconds left to give the home team its first lead since the second quarter.

But Fairfield got to tie it again on a pair of free throws on the next possession.

Johnson would not be denied, however. She drove for two with 2.8 seconds left and ended the game making the and-one foul shot.

Amari Johnson also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Rider had not played since losing its last non-conference game at home to Georgetown on Feb. 21.

“It felt good to get back on the court,” Rider coach Lynn Milligan said. “I think we were anxious. I think we did a terrific making halftime adjustments and the young ladies followed through with the adjustments.

“We stayed the course, even when we were trailing. It was a typical Rider-Fairfield game that comes down to the final possession.”

Of her star player, Milligan said, “Stella does what she needs to do to help the team win. All she cares about is winning. The best thing about Stella is that she doesn’t have to shoot every time down the court to be successful.”

Rider had lost five straight at home to Fairfield dating to 2013. It was also the first conference opening win in seven seasons. 

Next up will be an 11:30 a.m. game Thursday against MAAC rival Monmouth on the road in West Long Branch, N.J.

Villanova Reduced to Split on Road Trip By Providence Rally

On their first road trip of the season in the Big East, the Wildcats were thought to get done the hard part on the front end Friday night, winning the first time in a while at Creighton.

Then the tables got turned Sunday in New England where host Providence surged to a 67-61 win at Alumni Hall in Rhode Island to snap a seven-game losing streak to Villanova (10-4, 2-2 Big East).

It was the first conference win of the season for the Friars (9-7, 1-3).

Jovana Nogic had a game-high 23 points, helped by a perfect 11-for-11 at the line, for the home team, while Maddie Jolin scored 18 points.

The game was tied 44-44 after three periods and deadlocked again at 50-50 with 6:07left in regulation.

The Wildcats went ahead 53-50 with 5:35 left in play on Cameron Onken’s second 3-pointer of the period in the fourth but the Friars responded with a 6-0 run and 56-53 advantage with 3:31 left in regulation.

Adrianna Hahn gave the Wildcats a new life with 3:09 remaining on a 3-ball but then the Friars used a 9-2 run to gain the win.

Villanova connected with 13 three-pointers in the game.

Hahn had 19 points for the Wildcats while Kelly Jekot added 11 points and Mary Gedaka had eight points and seven rebounds.

Though Villanova comes home next weekend, things don’t get easier with the two nationally-ranked conference teams visiting Finneran Pavilion.

Marquette drops by late Friday morning at 11:30 for the annual Education Day event while DePaul visits  Sunday at 1 p.m. The weekend will be followed by a trip to Penn Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. where a win will mean the Big Five title and a loss will mean either a share or second place finish depending what the Quakers do the following Wednesday against Temple.

Elsewhere in the Big East, Butler stayed unbeaten in the conference with a 66-45 win over visiting St. John’s, Creighton beat Georgetown 65-38, and Xavier edged Seton Hall 63-62 in overtime. 

Nationally Speaking: Wave of Upsets Hit Ranked Teams

Several teams ranked in the Associated Press women’s poll were struck with upsets Sunday in conference play.

In the Big Ten, Jaelynn Penn had 17 points and the go-ahead basket to give unranked Indiana a 68-64 win over No. 15 Michigan State at home in Bloomington, the first win for the Hoosiers (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) over a Top 15 team in nine years. 

Jeanna Allen had 15 points for the Spartans (11-3, 1-2).

Illinois beat No. 12 Minnesota 66-62 with a rally in Minneapolis as Brandi Beasley scored 18 points and closed the game with an 11-2 run for the Illini (9-5, 1-2) who trailed the Golden Gophers (12-2, 1-2) by 17 points in the third period.

In the Southeastern Conference, No. 23 South Carolina avoided an upset at home with a narrow 62-59 win in Columbia over Alabama (9-6, 1-1 SEC) as Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored 18 points for the Gamecocks (10-4, 2-0).

But unranked Missouri won at No. 10 Tennessee 66-64 in Knoxville as Sophie Cunningham scored 20 points and Haley Troup had a career high 16 points off the bench for the visitors (13-3, 2-0 SEC). Tennessee fell to 12-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Unranked LSU topped No. 21 Texas A&M 63-52 at home in Baton Rouge, La., as Khayla Pointer had 16 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter against the Aggies (11-4, 0-2) for the Bengals (10-4, 1-1).

In the Atlantic Coast Conference No. 14 Syracuse on the road dodged an upset from Virginia Tech 75-73 in overtime.

And that’s the report.