The Guru Report No. 2 of 2: Villanova and Drexel Notch Key Wins

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Sunday may not have been so super in terms of most of the game to determine the new NFL champion  but on the local and national women’s hoops scene there was enough suspense to go around as the forecasts for the early part of March Madness begin to form.

Locally, on the bright side, Villanova came up positive in the Big East, while Drexel in a narrow outcome and Delaware completed weekend sweeps in the Colonial Athletic Association,

Not so good, however, were the efforts of the two locals Saint Joseph’s here on Hawk Hill and La Salle down South against the frontrunners in the Atlantic 10.

Ditto for the local duo in the Big Ten where Penn State was handled at home by Iowa and No. 17 Rutgers took an upset hit  at Minnesota that sets up likely zero cushion when Maryland comes visiting next Sunday.

Rider on the road became the latest victim of the ruling Quinnipiac squad in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

And no one will be winning the NCAA this year unbeaten with the last of the perfect starts being no more after North Carolina took down nearby rival North Carolina State one week after executing an Atlantic Coast Conference hit on then-No. 1 Notre Dame, the defending NCAA champs.

So all that said, let’s take a look at the tape of the good, the bad, and whatever else in some organized structure to wade through it all.

Villanova Uses Double OT to Complete Sweep of Creighton in the Big East

 Home continued to serve this past weekend well for the Wildcats, who extended their win streak to four straight with a gritty 67-62 triumph in double overtime against Creighton at Finneran Pavilion riding a combination of 11 of 13 points from Adriana Hahn and Mary Gedaka in the two additional five-minute periods.

The outcome for the moment moved Villanova (15-7, 6-5 Big East) into a fourth place tie with Seton Hall (14-8, 6-5), which upset Butler, but the Wildcats, who took the season series from Creighton (10-12, 4-7), for now hold the fourth seed position for the conference tourney off last weekend’s win over the Pirates.

Gedaka finished with a game-high 23 points, one more than Creighton’s Audrey Faber, and also had seven rebounds and five assists.

Kelly Jekot scored 15, while Hahn and Jannah Tucker each scored 11.

On Friday night in the win over Providence, Hahn became the new career leading three-point shooter for the Wildcats at 284, eclipsing Trish Juhline who 24 hours later became a new inductee to the Villanova Athletics Hall of Fame.

Hahn continued to shoot the long ball against Creighton, connecting on 3-of-6 attempts.

Coach Harry Perretta’s squad handled the ball quite securely, committing just three turnovers, one more than the Big East record.

But things are about to get rougher in terms of the road ahead when it comes to trying to return to the NCAA tournament, though a WNIT bid is likely if the Wildcats fall short.

They visit DePaul in Chicago on Friday night and No. 10 Marquette in Milwaukee Sunday afternoon.

Both teams, who are above the Wildcats in the standings, won here last month, though DePaul (15-7, 6-4) had to rally and win in overtime.

On Sunday, the duo met each other with Marquette topping the Blue Demons 93-87 on the road in Chicago to win its 10th straight and stay perfect in the conference at 19-3 overall and 10-0.

The Golden Eagles have a four-game lead in the loss column on their nearest challengers, certainly a margin in the standings that has not existed since the early rise of Connecticut as the conference power, if even then.

But DePaul did not yield quietly Sunday with a late rally to be stopped by a key shot from Allazia Blockton, who finished with 25 points, while DePaul’s Chante Stonewall had 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Drexel and Delaware Continue Streaking in CAA

On the way to their second meeting of the season next Sunday in their local and conference rivalry in the Colonial Athletic Association, Drexel and Delaware each completed weekend road swings to keep current win streaks alive.

Drexel, which will host the Blue Hens at 5 p.m. in their next game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on NBC Sports Philadelphia after each takes a Friday bye, has now managed to make it all the way back to sole possession of second place with a little help besides winning narrowly at William & Mary 62-58 in the Kaplan Center in Williamsburg, Va.

It is now seven wins in a row for the Dragons (15-5, 7-2 CAA) after what at the time was considered  a disastrous opening home set of losses in an upset to Towson and then setback to preseason favorite James Madison, picked just ahead of Drexel.

It is also 10 straight true road wins, which is singularly best  nationally for the moment after moving out of a tie with 10th-ranked  Oregon State of the Pac-12.

Bailey Greenberg continued to be the highlight after a third straight game scoring 20 or more points, the best run by a Drexel player in two seasons.

In this one with two early foul shots Greenberg became the 25th member of the program’s 1,000th career point club and she went on to finish with 24 points, shooting 9-for-18 from the field, including 4-of-7 three-balls,  and she also posted another double double courtesy of 11 rebounds.

Niki Metzel had a career-high 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds and her 6-of-7 foul shooting helped wrapped things up over the Tribe (11-9, 4-5) with her last two from the line being sunk with 7.8 seconds left.

Drexel was a hot-shooting 8-for-11 as a team on free throw attempts but the home team was just as precise with more opportunities shooting 15-for-17.

William & Mary’s Bianca Boggs scored 17 points, toping two other teammates, who also scored in double figures.

Elsewhere in a wild one in the conference, JMU kept its home win streak alive at 23 at the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va., by beating upstart Towson 71-59 in overtime as Neumann-Goretti grad Kamiah Smalls, the preseason player of the year, had 128 points and nine rebounds.

The loss knocked the Tigers (12-8, 6-3) back into a third-place tie with UNCW, which beat Northeastern 83-70 at home to go to 13-7 overall and 6-3. 

Towson gets placed fourth for now, due to an earlier loss to the Seahawks, who are unbeaten at home but lost last weekend at Delaware and Drexel.

Delaware, meanwhile, is now on a season-best four-game win streak after a strong second half to win at defending CAA tourney champion Elon 74-63, in the Phoenix’s new Schar Center.

It’s the first-ever win at Elon, near Greensboro, N.C., as the home team fell to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the CAA.

Samone DeFreese had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Hens (10-11, 5-4), now alone in fifth place and hosts of this season’s CAA tourney, which will be at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

“I told them at the half, they had to step it up and each of them did,” said Delaware second-year coach Natasha Adair.

Abby Gonzales had 15 points, propelled by four three-pointers, and Allison Lewis scored 13 points, and Rebecca Lawrence had 10 points and four blocked shots.

Rutgers and Penn State Fall in Big Ten Games

The recent and nice two-game cushion No. 17 Rutgers had over the Scarlet Knights’ nearest challengers in the Big Ten is likely to become totally history by Monday night after a 60-46 upset loss at Minnesota in the Gophers’ Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Penn State, the other Guru local in the conference, became the latest Big Ten team to be pulverized by Iowa’s Meghan Gustafson in an 81-61 loss to the No. 13 Hawkeyes (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) in a home game at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

But the more pressing issue is Rutgers (17-5, 9-2), which after upsetting then-No. 4 Maryland in College Park, Md., last month, built a two-game lead over the Terrapins (19-2, 8-2) that is considered to become dead even after Maryland pays a visit to Illinois.

The Terps also host Northwestern later this week before the Rutgers trip occurs.

Thus, the stage is set ahead of Monday night’s outcome to next Sunday when Maryland returns the earlier Rutgers visit in Piscataway, N.J.

A recent setback at Iowa, though not a shocker on the court, was the first shoe and Sunday became the other despite the Gophers (15-7, 4-7) having been ranked earlier in the year under first-year coach Lindsay Whalen, a retired WNBA all-time player as well as esteemed alum on the program.

Things looked manageable with a seven-point lead early in the third for the visitors until the home team woke from its shooting slumber and went on a 13-2 run to a 39-33 lead.

Not helpful was the domination of the boards by Minnesota 44-31 or enabling the Gophers to pick up 25 points on the foul line.

Disciplined for breaking a team rule and stated to be sidelined indefinitely , Rutgers is without Caitlin Jenkins, who is averaging six points and 6.8 rebounds.

Of those in uniform in the Twin Cities for the visitors, Stasha Carey had 16 points for the Knights while Minnesota’s Kenisha Bell had 19 points and Taiye Bellow had 11 points and 21 rebounds. Two others Gophers each scored 13.

Meanwhile up at Penn State (10-11, 3-7), which is 12th in the conference just behind Minnesota, the bright spot was Teniya Page becoming the sixth Lady Lion to reach and pass 2,000 points. 

Along the way to her 17 points in the game, she passed WNBA standout Tanisha Wright.

Alisia Smith added 15 points and Amari Carter scored 10.

But the squad couldn’t contend with Iowa’s Gustafson, the nation’s leading scorer, who poured down 30 points in this one.

“Hats off to Iowa,” said Penn State coach Coquese Washington. “I thought they came in and played a gutsy game. 

“Megan Gustafson is a phenomenal talent and I thought she really carried their team today and got big buckets when they needed them,” Washington added.

“For us, we have to find a way to score more points. When you play in the Big Ten, a conference where scoring is a premium, we have to find a way to generate more points. If we can do that then I think we’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Penn State next travels Wednesday to Ohio State in Columbus for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Saint Joseph’s and La Salle Fall to Atlantic 10 Frontrunners

The Hawks here at home in Hagan Arena became sweep victims to VCU after falling to the front-running Rams 65-47, though the game was somewhat competitive until late in the third period.

“My freshman have grown up,” said fifth-year coach Beth O’Boyle who previously coached Stony Brook on Long Island before moving to Richmond.

Picked sixth in the preseason by the A-10 coaches, VCU now sits atop the league by a half-game in the win column at 16-6 overall and 8-1.

Saint Joseph’s, picked fifth, continues to have trouble scoring and fell to 12th at 6-15 and 2-6.

The Rams used the boards to get things done, out-rebounding the Hawks 39-23 and producing as lopsided 20-3 comparison on second chance points.

Tera Reed had 18 points for the visitors while Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points.

Saint Joseph’s Katie Jekot scored 15 points and Alyssa Monaghan scored 11.

The Hawks next on Wednesday at 7 p.m. host Davidson, which is still a half-game behind  VCU in the win column, though picked preseason 11th.

Davidson hosted La Salle on Sunday in North Carolina and kept the Explorers winless in the conference with an 80-61 victory that spoiled the homecoming of Janay Sanders, who had some 70 family and friends at the game.

La Salle (3-20, 0-9) was forecasted last.

Sanders did perform for her home folks as she and Jeryn Reese each had career highs of 18 points.

Kianna Speight had 21 points for the Wildcats (13-8, 7-1), who could have hitched a ride back to Philadelphia considering they are headed here for Hawk Hill and a Wednesday game.

La Salle on Wednesday will host Rhode Island at 11 a.m. in the Explorers’ annual Kids Day game.

Two positives were a season best 48.9 percent from the field for La Salle and 38 points in the paint.

“In the beginning of the season it might have been one thing,” said Explorers first-year coach Mountain MacGillivray. “Now on different nights it might be different things. So we have to put it all together for a complete game. But there are encouraging signs of progress.”

Rider Handled by Quinnipiac

For teams at the top level of Division I who get the invite or get to visit courtesy of the AAC schedule, it’s a daunting trip to play Connecticut, whether in Storrs on campus, or in Hartford, Uncasville, or Bridgeport.

But for many teams a notch below traveling to the Nutmeg State, Hamden has its own issues.

That’s where Quinnipiac sits and besides known for taking surveys the Bobcats have been a challenge ever since they left the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

On Sunday, it was Rider’s turn to make the annual trip to the People’s United Center but at least the Broncs were guaranteed a split on Wednesday when they upset Marist.

However, another one wasn’t in the cards with Rider becoming Quinnipiac’s 41st straight MAAC victim, this one 72-56 to run the total wipeout in the series with the Bobcats to 0-14.

Rider (11-9, 7-2 MAAC) is still a game in front of Marist in second while falling two games off first and can add an edge over the Red Foxes by beating visiting Monmouth at home Thursday night at 7 in Alumni Gymnasium and then completing the series with Marist successfully at home Saturday afternoon.

Aryn McClure had 22 points for the winners Sunday and Paula Strautmane had 18.

The halftime score with Quinnipiac (15-6, 10-0) looked competitive with just a six-point deficit but the Broncs, who opened with a 7-0 run before the home team equaled the surge, were hampered early with a bunch of starters being hit with two fouls apiece.

Stella Johnson had 22 points for the Broncs and Amari Johnson scored 15.

“The early trouble affected us a little bit,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “It took us out of our flow offensively.

“ We took some shots we don't normally take during that stretch and defensively it caused some mismatches for us that we didn't want exposed. LP (Lexi Posset), Stella and Amari all played well with the fouls, but it took away from their aggressive play on defense."

She also addressed the reality of the challenge, no different than the one faced by UConn’s AAC rivals.

"We're going to fight until the end. We know who we're chasing,” Milligan said. “Quinnipiac is the defending champion two times over for a reason. 

“They're a great team, they play hard and do things the right way so we've got to make sure we continue to learn from the mistakes we made on the offensive and defensive ends."

Nationally Noted: Undefeated No More

Seven days after taking down previous top-ranked Notre Dame, the reigning NCAA champion, North Carolina was at it again Sunday on a nearby trip to Raleigh where the Tar Heels made more Atlantic Coast Conference and national headlines upsetting No. 8 North Carolina State, the nation’s last unbeaten team, 64-51.

Stephanie Watts had 20 points for UNC (14-9, 5-4 ACC) in ending the Wolfpack’s 21-0 start of the season.

The upset came ahead of a bunch of ranked teams soon to oppose N.C. State  (21-1, 8-1) in league play.

Kiara Leslie had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the home team.

And that’s your Sunday roundup Guru report.