Guru Report- National: Mid-Majors Fla. Gulf Coast and South Dakota State Strike Again

(Guru’s Note: Because of the newsworthiness, Saturday’s report is split into a local and national segment)

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

When the pairings for the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge were drawn up with three days of quality opponents, the expectation was that on Saturday both No. 21 South Florida and Notre Dame would hit their matchup both 2-0 across the Thanksgiving holiday, though not necessarily with relatively ease.

Two powerful mid-majors had other ideas, however.

Unranked South Dakota State of the Summit League followed its Thursday 61-50 upset of South Florida on Friday by handing Notre Dame its second-ever Thanksgiving competition loss 65-59, holding off a rally by the Irish who are now 4-4 as they continue to suffer from the mass graduation of last season’s NCAA runners up.

And unranked Florida Gulf Coast, followed Thursday’s 69-60 win over Notre Dame, beating South Florida, 81-77.

Thus, the Mayan Division championship will be contested 1:30 p.m. between Florida Gulf Coast (7-1), whose only loss is to Princeton; and South Dakota State (5-2), who had narrow losses to Drake (74-67) and Creighton (61-48) on the road to start the season.

In the Florida Gulf Coast win Friday over South Florida Nasrin Ulel had five three-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points against the Bulls (5-3), whose one previous loss prior to this week was from challenging No. 2 and defending NCAA champion Baylor 58-46 on the road in Waco. 

USF had also knocked Texas out of the rankings, beating the Longhorns 64-57 at home.

In the win over the Bulls, Keri Jewett-Giles added 19 points and Davion Wingate scored 12, while Tytionia Adderly had nine points and 10 rebounds.

USF had 19 points from Elena Tsineke while Bethy Mununga had eight points and 12 rebounds.

The Bulls came close to avoding the upset, pulling within three of the Eagles at 70-67 with 1:44 remaining in regulation but FGCU hit 11 of 14 foul shots to make it two straight days pulling upsets for the Eagles’ part.

Whither the Irish: Meanwhile, after a day following dusting off old records to find setbacks similar in Notre Dame history prior to becoming one of the national powers in the sport in Division I, coach Muffet McGraw’s squad suffered some more against the Jackrabbits.

The Irish almost escaped after trailing by 16 in the third and rallying for a lead at the start of the final period.

But that became the highwater mark of the effort.

ND’s Kathy Gilbert had 17 points, fueled by shooting 7-for-11 from the field, while Anaya Peoples had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Destinee Walker scored 12 points.

The Jackrabbits lived up to their name from the outset, making six of their first eight shots in bolting to a 15-2 lead.

Tori Nelson had 15 points and 13 rebounds for SDSU, while Paiton Burckhard scored 14, as did Myah Selland.

The Irish, incidentally, are at No. 4 Connecticut next Sunday.

 They are now 13-2 playing this holiday week, both losses happening Thursday and Friday, the showcase week games dating to 2009-10.

More Upsets as LSU edged No. 15 Michigan State, 58-56

In the Bahamas, the Tigers (6-1) used a strong second half to down the Spartans (5-1) as LSU’s Khayla Pointer for the game had 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

The Spartans almost forced overtime at the finish but Taryn McCutcheon, who had 18 points, seven rebounds, and five steals, was just 1-for-3 from the line. Teammate Nia Clouden scored 12.

No. 2 Baylor Stops No. 17 Indiana Upset and Awaits No. 5 South Carolina.

Following Indiana’s Thanksgiving Day upset of South Carolina, the Hoosiers were looking for more of same facing the defending national champs Friday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

For a while, the Midwesterners threatened until the Bears put a stop for a 77-62 victory as DiDi Richards scored 20, Queen Egbo had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Te’a Cooper scored 17, and Juicy Landrum scored 10 to run the unbeaten streak to 7-0.

Indiana (5-1), in taking its first loss, got 18 points from Grace Berger, while Ali Patberg scored 16, and Mackenzie Holmes had 11.

South Carolina bounced back from its loss to Indiana by topping Washington State 68-53 though coach Dawn Staley’s squad will be looking to restore its luster when it faces No. 2 Baylor on Saturday. 

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan had 20 points for the Gamecocks (7-1), while Aliyah Boston, a native of St. Thomas, had 15 points and eight rebounds. The Cougars (4-2) had 17 points from Chanelle Molina.

And that’s the report – the local report is underneath this one.