The Guru Report: ‘Nova Comeback Tops ODU

By Mel Greenberg @womhoops

So what if Villanova was missing three-point shooter Kelly Jekot, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Wildcats’ quarterfinals loss to Georgetown two weekends ago in the Big East women’s tournament.

Graduate student Adrianna Hahn suffering a rare low-productive scoring night? 

No problem.

Down three with 18 seconds left in regulation against a renaissance Old Dominion squad?

 Piece of cake.

In terms of what you would have predicted, given these elements at the start of the season, and what transpired Friday night at the Wildcats’ Finneran Pavillion, Villanova’s 86-81 victory in overtime against Old Dominion in a WNIT opening round game is one of the more improbable and satisfying triumphs in veteran coach Harry Perretta’s career on the Main Line.

In fact, Perretta has had better chances with long-shot entries at the race track.

Together with Penn, playing a WNIT opener (see separate post above) down at The Palestra at the same time, the Big Five co-women’s champions became two of just three survivors of the Guru’s local D-1 teams competing in the NCAA and WNIT tourneys.

The third, Ivy tournament champion Princeton, may not last much longer when the Tigers have to open NCAA play Saturday against nationally-ranked Kentucky.

But let’s begin with ‘Nova (19-12), which faced Old Dominion (21-11), a program with a storied past that arrived in the area in a renaissance season, the second one under coach Nikki McCray-Penson, a former Tennessee star, Olympian and assistant to Dawn Staley at South Carolina.

Normally, when the name Herlihy appears, it is starter Bridget that is usually one of the headliners with ‘Nova.

On Friday, however, as she struggled through a scoreless night, sister Brianna, a sophomore reserve, completed a regulation rally with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to force overtime where the Wildcats took over with a 9-0 run to start the bonus period and never look back.

Victoria Morris, who led four Monarchs in double figures with 21 points, had put the visitors ahead 69-66 on two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining and then Villanova, rather than taking a timeout to advance the ball, decided to play it through, resulting in Herlihy’s heroics to keep the Wildcats alive. 

She finished with a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. 

Jekot’s absence was more than compensated by Emily Esposito, who had a career-high 27 points, including 7-for-14 three-balls. 

Overall, Villanova tied a season-high connecting on 15 from beyond the arc.

Mary Gedaka, who had 18 and a career-high nine assists, joined her mother, Lisa Angelotti, as the 29th member of the 1,000 point club and combined, the mother-daughter duo has produced 2,632 points playing for Perretta.

Hahn, who took over the career mark for three pointers recently, was just 1-2 from the field, but that shot in overtime got the Wildcats on the way to continue their season.

Besides Morris in double figures for ODU, Taylor Edwards scored 16, while Ajah Wayne and Amari Young scored 15 each.

It’s the first time all season ODU has scored 70 or more points and lost while likewise it’s also the first time the Monarchs of Conference USA have suffered a setback when four players have scored in double figures.

The win sends Villanova to a second round meeting with a familiar rival of the past Sunday at 3 p.m., playing West Virginia in the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

The Wildcats made annual trips there when West Virginia competed in the old Big East before joining the Big 12 and in 2015 Villanova was blocked from a semifinals appearance in a WNIT deep run when the Mountaineers rallied from a four-point deficit in the final 30 seconds in Morgantown.

In the next round at home, they then eliminated Temple.

On Thursday, West Virginia (21-10) took the first of the Guru locals to go down to instant defeat in the postseason when the Mountaineers outscored Rider 21-12 in the third period on the way to an 83-43 rout in Morgantown in a WNIT opener.

Naomi Davenport and Tynice Martin each scored 23 points for West Virginia while Kari Niblack scored 20.

Stella Johnson, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, scored 18 for Rider (19-13), which was making its second WNIT appearance in three seasons, while Lea Favre scored 12.

Drexel Felled By Harvard

Coming off a 91-62 thrashing by Penn in the semifinals of the Ivy tourney at Yale last Saturday night, the Crimson, who were third in the league, became the aggressor Friday night in beating Drexel 69-56 in a WNIT opener at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.

The Dragons (24-9) were coming off a tough loss in a game that got away in the closing minutes, falling to Towson in the championship round  of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament at Delaware.

The Tigers, making their first NCAA appearance, were seeded 15th and routed Friday in an opener by host Connecticut, the second seed in the Albany Regional.

Harvard used the long-ball to finish one of Drexel’s better seasons, shooting 10 three-pointers of which eight went down in the first half.

The Dragons had one of their better nights from beyond the arc, tying a season-high nine connections.

Katie Benzan had 18 points for Harvard (17-12), while Madeline Raster scored 14, Jadyn Bush had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Sydney Skinner scored 10.

Drexel’s Aubree Brown scored 16 points, helped by 4-for-6 on three-point attempts, Maura Hendrixson had 11 and three triplets, but Bailey Greenberg, the CAA player of the year, scored just eight, one of only four times all season she did not score in double digits.

Harvard moves on to a second round game Sunday, staying home at 3 p.m. to host Georgetown of the Big East, which ousted Sacred Heart at home in Washington in an opener on Friday.

NCAA: Rutgers Fades at the Finish to Buffalo

A 23-10 fourth quarter and finishing a 13-2 run from a 69-69 tie carried 10th-seeded Buffalo to an 82-71  upset win over seventh-seeded Rutgers late Friday afternoon in an NCAA Albany Regional opener at the University of Connecticut’s Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

The setback ended the Scarlet Knights’ season at 22-10 that included a third-place finish in the Big Ten standings behind Maryland and Iowa.

Buffalo (24-9) of the Mid-American Conference, a Cinderella a year ago advancing to the Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y., will face the host Huskies Sunday night in the second round at 7.

Stasha Carey had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Knights while Arella Guirantes scored 14, and reserve Tekia Mack scored 10.

The Bulls were deadly from long range, shooting 12 three balls.

Rutgers fought back from Buffalo’s first surge to take a 43-41 lead at the half. 

The Knights built on it for a nine-point advantage coming out of the break but the Bulls then answered with their own 10-0 run and ultimately took over midway through the fourth quarter.

With Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer confined to rest by doctors beginning with near the end of the regular season through the Big Ten tournament and then extended through the NCAAs, assistant coach Tim Eatman was on the sidelines.

Wins and losses were still attributed to Stringer’s record per NCAA rules so with the end of the season, she could be back on the sidelines for next season’s opener when she would be going for her 500th win with the Knights.

Early into this season, she became the sixth women’s coach to gain her 1000th victory.

Eatman was hampered in that he had only seven healthy bodies to combat Buffalo.

Looking Ahead 

The Guru and Phillycollegesports.com colleague Glenn Papazian will be heading down to Maryland Saturday where the third-seeded Terrapins will be hosting 14th-seeded Radford at 11 a.m. in an Albany regional opener in College Park before 11th-seeded Tennessee hosts sixth-seeded UCLA at 1:30 p.m.

With Rutgers no longer in play to meet UConn Sunday night, the Guru will likely head to Providence for the second round game between the Friars and Penn.

(And that’s the report)

   

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