The Guru Report: Saint Joes Advance in A-10

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Call it the luck of the bracket. 

At least that is how it has worked out for the Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 tourney and how it might do likewise for Temple in the American Athletic Conference when the Owls get under way Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena up in Uncasville, Conn.

Let’s start with Saint Joseph’s and La Salle, the latter of which was eliminated at Dayton Tuesday night while the Hawks prevailed earlier in the day as the eighth seed at home in Hagan Arena where they ousted ninth-seed George Washington 61-49 on strength of a 17-11 fourth quarter and a 13-point lead near the end of the third.

A year ago the Hawks (12-18) and Colonials (10-20) made upset runs to the championship where George Washington prevailed to win the NCAA tournament automatic bid.

Then graduation and injuries took its toll on both sides of the rivalry but Saint Joseph’s picked up a little cohesiveness in the closing weeks of the regular season including a low-scoring 41-38 win early last month at George Washington in the nation’s capital.

Then, as in many other places this time of year, Saturday’s closeout was to determine who does the eighth seed tiebreaker favor in terms of getting one of six and the last home site for Tuesday’s first rounds.

Two teams – George Washington and Saint Joseph’s – were 7-8 heading in Saturday’s finals and Massachusetts was 6-9. 

Conventional wisdom  said Massachusetts would beat Rhode Island, GW would win at Richmond to get the last home court at the Colonials’ Smith Center but the Hawks would lose at home to Fordham, which was fighting for a tie at the top and a bye into the weekend’s action.

But The Spiders upset the Colonials,  so in a three-way tie for eighth, Saint Joseph’s swept both UMass and GWU to automatically get eighth seed and home court, while the Colonials had a win over the Minutewomen to become the ninth seed here, leaving the folks from Amherst as No. 10 heading to No. 7 George Mason, which was upset in overtime at La Salle.

As it turned out in Tuesday’s first game played in late morning, Massachusetts had the big upset downing the host Patriots 86-80 in double overtime.

 The Minutewomen (16-15) advance to the rest of the Duquesne-hosted tournament this weekend in Pittsburgh playing second-seed Fordham Friday in a quarter final at 4:30 in the Dukes’ A.J. Palumbo Center.

With that all set, several hours later at mid-afternoon on Tuesday Saint Joseph’s tipped against the Colonials, a start time made necessary because the Hawks men’s team already had a scheduled game at night.

In the first half, it was your typical rivalry that has been the way many games have gone in the series, neither team got more than a two-point lead on the other until senior Alyssa Monaghan connected on one of her four three-balls, she was 4-for-6 overall, and then the two teams exchanged a connected foul shot to put the home team ahead 26-22.

It could have been two more for Saint Joseph’s because Lula Roig was determined to have gotten  fouled just as time expired attempting a shot beyond the arc but she only made the one attempt.

In the second half, the Hawks (12-18) never lost the lead, building the advantage to 13 on two Roig foul shots with 3:16 left in the third.

The Colonials (10-20) got it back down to six at the end of the quarter but then Saint Joseph’s rebuilt off of that in the final period expanding the margin to as many as 19 before the visitors went on a 7-0 run to get to the final score and rare early completion of their season.

Both the GW and Saint Joseph’s losing records preclude at-large selection to the WNIT, so the only option left for the Hawks is to win the whole thing, with the next attempt Friday at 11 a.m. against top-seeded VCU (21-8) in the quarterfinal opener.

The Rams swept the Hawks 59-40 and 65-47, the latter here at the outset of last month just before the Hawks began their best play of the season.

“Very, very proud of our players today of stepping up and sticking with the game plan,” said Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin. “Going into this game, we knew we had to play great defense and we had to be opportunistic as far as making shots.

“We did that, today, Alyssa had a great speed and tempo about her, and she ran us for the whole game, there’s a presence she has on the court, that’s exceptional, it just makes everybody else around her better.”

Monaghan, who played the entire 40 minutes, finished with 21 points, three assists, and five rebounds without committing any turnovers. Roig had 14 points and Whisper Fisher scored 10.

“Right now it’s very exciting for our players, you have a group, especially with Alyssa and Kristalyn (Baisden), who have played in the championship game, of course, Lula as well and Whisper was on the bench, at that point, too.

“We had a lot of success in that run to build on, and then for the younger kids, and to taste a win is very, very important and I do believe that the first game is always your hardest game, because you’re nervous, you’re worried, `Is this going to be our last game.’ 

“I think we handled that really, really, well, and I think it’s important moving forward we just keep things very simple and stick with who we know and who we are.

“I think we’ve definitely improved, I don’t think we’re perfect by any stretch of the imagination, so I think we had different players stepping up and you have your steadies, who are going to show up every day.” 

George Washington heads to the off-season earlier than in most years but coach Jen Rizzotti, the former Connecticut star and current assistant on the Olympic staff of South Carolina coach and Philly legend Dawn Staley, is optimistic about the future.

Her seniors played on two regular season A-10 championships and two A-10 tourney winners.

“It’s a tough one,” Rizzotti said. “We have seniors who were a big part of winning a championship last year and who helped me to build a culture – to not really surround them with players not capable of 

elevating us this season was tough.

“But we got a lot of experience for our young players, a lot of minutes, and hopefully that’s what we’re looking to the future to build on. 

“We got a couple of guys who are sitting out that we hope are really going to impact our program next year and we got recruits coming in, so you kind of have to take your lumps in a year like this. And just make sure you’re building the right way.”

Neila Luma had  a double double for the Colonials with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Kayla Mokuwa had 13 points, and Mwi-Lyn Bautista scored 11.

Rizzotti payed tribute to the Hawks’ growth the past four months under the same circumstances.

“They did a nice job of improving as the season went on,” she said. “I think they got comfortable to go with their four-guard lineup which they weren’t playing a lot early in the season and each one of their players continued to get better.

“I think Monaghan tried to hold down the fort early in the season and when (Kelly) Jekot and  Roig, and (Kristalyn) Baisden started to elevate their game, it just made them a little harder to guard.

“And that was the thing, we both struggled to score a lot but they were just able to figure out things at the end of the season a little bit better.”

Looking to the weekend conclusion of the league tourney, Rizzotti is realistic that the parity that suggests a wide open field is not due to overall excellence.

“It’s a little bit of a down year for the Atlantic 10, but there are a lot of good young players in the league and so I’m optimistic the next two years will really be good years for our league, obviously it’s anybody’s game, it’s wide open, VCU and Fordham had great seasons but they have a lot of young players on their teams too and you never know how kids are going to respond at tournament time.

Meanwhile with La Salle’s development and consistency its last two games of the regular season, especially Saturday’s Senior Day 77-71 win over George Mason in overtime following the 52-45 win at St. Bonaventure, there were hopes that maybe the 13th-seeded Explorers might have one surprise left in coach Mountain MacGillivray’s first season as they headed to 4th-seeded Dayton.

The Flyers denied those thoughts quick enough expanding on a 12-7 lead after the first period to be up strong at the break and after after being played even in third period closed out the fourth quarter on a 18-3 run to pocket a 65-38 victory.

In Friday’s 2 p.m. second quarterfinal game, Dayton (16-12) will meet fifth-seeded Davidson (17-13), which hung a 74-49 loss at home to St. No. 12 Bonaventure (8-22). At one point Davidson, picked 11th, was the surprise of the league until fading a bit in the closing weeks.

La Salle’s Jeryn Reese in her farewell game for the Explorers (6-25)  had 11 points and 10 rebounds while Shalina Miller scored 11.

Lauren Canatelli scored 13 for Dayton, while Jayla Scaife scored 10 points and Julia Chandler scored 11.

In the two other quarterfinals, No. 3 Duquesne, picked to win the league in the preseason, easily stayed alive in its arena to remain a participant in thumping 14th seeded Rhode Island 106-69 to end the Rams’ season overall at 8-21.

The Dukes (18-12) in the final game of the quarters at 7 p.m. will play 6th seeded St. Louis (15-15), which won at home with a 58-49 win over No. 11 Richmond (9-21) to end the Spiders’ season.

The quarterfinals are all on ESPN+ while the semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. will air on the CBS Sports Network and Sunday’s championship will be at noon on ESPNU. 

Unlike other years only one team is going, Sunday’s winner , to the NCAA’s so the WNIT will take the highest remaining seed, whoever that is, though the top two seeds, and maybe Duquesne are capable of WNIT at-large bids.

There are other possibility but with records as close to .500 it depends who is all claimed from elsewhere.

Temple Takes Momentum Into the AAC Tourney

When all was said and done, Temple is also on the lucky side of the bracket in the American Athletic Conference and this weekend’s annual tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., near New London.

Following last Wednesday’s disappointing home game loss to Tulsa in McGonigle Hall, the Owls regrouped for Senior Day Saturday afternoon and handled Wichita State 68-52 after jumping to a 20-8 lead in the first quarter.

Alliya Butts’ farewell home performance was memorable with 20 points and five assists while Marissa Mackins scored 13 to earn conference freshman of the week honors on Monday while Mia Davis scored 11. The Owls were 10-for-27 on three-point attempts.

Then on Monday they finished season play at Memphis with an 84-53 victory shooting a season-high 53.2 percent against the Tigers (10-19, 6-10 AAC).

In this one for the Owls (11-18, 7-9), Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Mackins had a career high 23, Shantay Taylor tied a career high with 19 points and Butts scored 15.

So Temple finished tied for fifth but lost the tie-break, which is like winning at this position, because they will open Friday at 8 p.m. against these very same Tigers, seeded 11th, and if they win, on Saturday night they play Cincinnati, who they beat at McGonigle in the second meeting.

Getting deeper, the loss of the tie-break is a win because in the semis, No. 1 Connecticut is on the other side of the bracket while the Owls likely face No. 2 UCF, which is capable of being upset even though they are playing a landmark season.

Small Colleges: USciences and Jefferson Take CACC First Round Victories To All-South Semifinals

Might USciences and Jefferson meet at least one more time this season after beating each other while Georgian Court‘s buzzer-beating win tagged Jefferson with the only other combined loss suffered by both schools?

USP coach Jackie Hartzell was more concerned after a 71-57 first round victory in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) here over Felician (9-18) in the Devils’ Bobby Morgan Arena in Southwest Philadelphia  how the team played in spots and the semifinals opponent directly in front, the same Georgian Court who recently rallied to upset Jefferson.

Hartzell, by the way, was named the CACC coach of the year, her second straight and third overall matching the honor with one former Holy Family coach, Mike McLaughlin, who has built Penn back into prominence after leaving the Tigers.

“It’s a playoff win,” she said afterwards. “We’ll take it anyway we can get it. It wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. We’re just happy to survive and advance.

“It could have been a little bit opening nerves. Felician is tough. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but we made foul shots in the fourth quarter.”

The Devils (28-1), which tied their regular season mark for victories, will play in the semifinals against  Georgian Court Saturday at 5 p.m. before Jefferson, a 70-54 winner over Post, meets Goldey Beacom at 7 at Caldwell College in North Jersey.

Irisa Ye scored 25 points for USciences on 7-for-13 from the field and 9-for-20 from the line, while Jordan Vitelli scored 19, shooting 10-for-12 from the line, and Alex Thomas scored 10.

The Devils were 21-for-28 from the line for the game while Felician was 11-for-15. 

Kristin Smith had a team-high 15 points for the visitors, while Kayla Diaz scored 14, and Bionca Chambers scored 11. Kamerone Stone grabbed 11 rebounds.

Jefferson, meanwhile, beat Post 70-54, as the Rams  ran their season record to 27-2 tying the program mark of the 1992-93 edition (27-2) who won the New York Athletic Conference and went to the NCAA tournament.

They are currently ranked 13th in the WBCA coaches’ poll and 23 in the D2SIDA poll.

USciences is ranked first in the NCAA region poll that will decide the site in a few weeks.

Shay’Raya Haines had 12 poonts for Post (14-14).

Alynna Williams scored 14 points for Jefferson, Bev Kum had 12, and Caitlyn Cunningham and Sabrina Lyttles each scored 10.

Jessica Kaminski had nine points and eight rebounds with five assists.

Coach/Athletic Director Tom Shirley earned his 775th victory and 626th at Jefferson, formerly known as Philadelphia U., and before that Philadelphia Textile.

Holding a seven-point halftime lead, The Rams outscored the Eagles 43-27 the rest of the way.

While USciences, ranked fourth in both the coaches and D2SIDA polls, were heavy favorites, the other two semifinal qualifiers came through road upsets with South #3 Georgian Court (12-15) taking a  80-63 win at North #2 Caldwell, knocking the team out of its own hosted semifinals while South #4 Goldey Beacom (14-15) taking a 75-60 win at North #1 Domincan (16-13).

Looking Ahead

On Wednesday, the only Guru local D1 in action has 12th-seeded Penn State opening the Big Ten Tournament playing 13th-seeded Wisconsin at 1:30 p.m. to try and beat the Badgers again and advance.

On Thursday in regular season games, it’s 1 vs. 2 as second-place Drexel tries to get even with a win at preseason-favorite James Madison, the league leader in the Colonial Athletic Association. Delaware on Thursday is at third-place Towson — the Blue Hens are fourth. 

Drexel needs a win or Towson loss in the final weekend of play to clinch second which minimally gains an automatic berth to the WNIT. The Dragons are at Towson Saturday.

The CAA tournament is at Delaware next weekend.

That’s the report for now with more things and looks to the big weekend tourneys ahead the next 24 hours. 

Mike Siroky is rounding up the SEC in a separate each night.