The Guru Report: Penn Tops Drexel While Princeton and Saint Joseph’s Get Road Triumphs

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Penn continued to roll in the win column here in The Palestra Friday afternoon though for a change the Quakers had to work a little harder for the final result to top their Drexel neighbors from up 33^rd Street for the third straight year, this time rallying to a 53-49 triumph.

Elsewhere on the road it became a sweep from the other two of the local Guru 11 D-1 teams in action though somebody had to lose here in the matchup between the Dragons and the Quakers.

Early on, it seemed that it might be the host team taking the hit with Drexel arriving just three days since it routed La Salle at home up at the Daskalakis Athletic Center to give it a perfect mark at that moment against Philly teams, having also won at Saint Joseph’s and edging Villanova at home in overtime.

Penn (8-1), off to its best start in the history of the women’s program, had been idle for 13 days for finals since a wipeout of Stetson here. 

When they last met a year ago though both were among the top three defensive teams in the country the Quakers went through the Dragons like a buzz saw.

Not so, this time.

Drexel jumped out to an 18-9 lead by the end of the first quarter and picked up where the Dragons had left off defensively against La Salle, this time involving Penn with nine turnovers and getting a lead helped by an 11-2 advantage in points off transition.

They also were holding Kayla Padilla, the Quakers’ rookie sensation from Torrance, Calif., in check and also benefitted from junior center Eleah Parker playing just 8 minutes, 51 seconds and scoring but two points, coming off the charity stripe.

However, the home team did begin in the second quarter to inch closer and trail by a competitive 22-18 at the break.

Then after Drexel star Bailey Greenberg got the lead increased back up to six at the outset of the third, the Palestra skies opened up so to speak and it was off to the races.

Padilla was followed by a shot from Kennedy Suttle before Keishana Washington got that score back for the visitors.

Then Phoebe Sterba nailed one from beyond the arc for three and Parker went inside to put the lead in Penn’s column though that didn’t last long after Drexel’s Greenberg scored.

But that didn’t last either when Padilla made a couple of foul shots and this time Penn gained control by continuing on a run for 10 more highlighted by a pair of three-balls from the Quakers freshman.

Additionally, Parker was back in business and Tori Crawford helped shore up the post as Penn was ahead 39-28 at the end of the run.

However, Drexel fought back to a five-point deficit at 41-36 at the end of the third with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Penn quickly got it back to a seven-point lead before the Dragons got within a bucket 47-45 on Washington’s three-pointer but Parker then went inside for a plus four for the Quakers.

It then became a grind out the rest of the way before Penn finished with the Quakers’ third straight win in the series and reaching a 14-14 tie overall.

Padilla already has won several Ivy freshman of the week citations of which one was also in combo with player of the week to additionally gain  her a national freshman of the week honor from the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

“It wasn’t her most dominate game, but she was steady,” said Penn coach Mike McLaughlin of his latest star recruit’s performance with 17 points, including 3-for-6 on three-point attempts.

She is averaging 19.4 points per game over her first nine, good enough to be second among all Division I freshmen in scoring as well as the Ivy leading scorer.

Of course, as she has become more focused by the opposition, the defenses are starting to change.

“It’s been quite the adjustment, conditioning and overall just the culture of Division I basketball,” Padilla said. “But one of the reasons why I came to Penn is because I knew they’d offer such a great transition into getting ready for that type of level.

“Now that teams know what I’m capable of, it’ll be an adjustment trying to maintain the same level of play but it’s a challenge I’m willing to take on.”

“She’s so aggressive as a freshman, she’s not going to go away,” Drexel coach Denise Dillon said of temporarily being able to contain Padilla. “She’s not going to stop playing. She wants to win. She loves playing the game, so she stuck to what she’s capable of doing, continued to play hard.

“I thought we had a couple of nice possessions on her, but at the end of the day, she’s still going to get her points.”

McLaughlin said it’s hard to compare Padilla with his first top recruit and point guard Alyssa Baron, citing specialties each possessed.

He said Baron was more athletic but he’s hopeful that Padilla will achieve what Baron did in leading the Quakers to their first Ivy title in the McLaughlin era.

“When you have a kid that can score in the open court, score in the half-court, shoot the three, can get to the foul line, make her teammates better, I think our ceiling is, we like to use that word, it’s high,” he said. “She may lead it statistically now, but I think she’ll be the face of this as we go forward.”

Parker, Sterba, and Crawford finished with 10 points each and Parker blocked five Drexel shots while Crawford grabbed six rebounds.

Drexel’s Greenberg was the only Dragon in double figures with 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Washington and Kate Connolly each scored nine points and Mariah Leonard scored eighth.

But the inconsistency to date has been frustrating for Dillon she noted when it was pointed out that of the 11 games, four of the five in the loss column could have easily been wins while vice versa two wins might have easily gone the other way.

“That’s why the record is what it is, it’s what happens when you’re inconsistent,” she said. “First quarter was good, second quarter, not so good, fourth quarter – we played two quarters of basketball, first and fourth, you’re obviously not going to beat a good team playing 20 minutes of basketball, you need a full game.

“We’re inconsistent on the scoring end in too many contests. We played good defense, we work hard on the defensive end each and every game, we just – our inconsistency on the offensive end is the reason we end up with a few more ‘Ls.’ We got 20 more shots today then Penn and we couldn’t win a basketball game.

“The other thing is you ask who our second leading scorer is, you don’t know. It’s someone different every game. The inconsistency is tough because you don’t know who to rely on among two or three other players to help Bailey out. Yeah, we’re getting some balanced scoring but you need to put the ball in other people’s hands to make plays.”

After the Christmas break, Drexel will host America East defending champion and preseason favorite Maine on Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m. before the men’s team plays as part of a doubleheader.

The following weekend, the Dragons will then open up play in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Penn, meanwhile, heads to the Pacific Ocean visiting Hawaii on New Year’s Eve and then playing Chaminade on Jan. 2. 

The Quakers then return to prepare for their annual Ivy opener, hosting defending regular season co-champion and league tournament champion Princeton on Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.

Following the annual first of two with the Tigers, for the final year before the Ivy season scheduling changes due to the change in Princeton’s academic calendar, Penn will temporarily put league matters aside until Jan. 31, but with another 2-0 start in the Big Five, the first month of the new decade will contain visits to Villanova Jan. 15 and Temple on Jan. 23 with a chance to complete a first-ever 4-0 sweep of the City Series and with Friday’s win over Drexel 5-0 of the Philly Six.

Princeton Completes Midwest Sweep

Speaking of the Tigers, on the heels of Wednesday’s precedent setting lockdown of Missouri in Columbia, Princeton continued the two-game road trip with a 66-50 win at Saint Louis in Chaifetz Arena as two-time reigning Ivy player of the year Bella Alarie set a program record with her 36^th career double-double.

It was the Tiger’s seventh straight victory in building the record to 11-1 while dropping the Billikens of the Atlantic 10 to 7-4.

Alarie had 23 points and 13 rebounds in eclipsing the former star Niveen Rasheed, the first great recruit of former coach Courtney Banghart, who left after last season to coach North Carolina.

Princeton hasn’t missed a step, however, in continuing  under former UConn star Carla Berube, who previously made Tufts from Medford, Mass., to a Division III national power.

Saint Louis had won 11 straight games at home.

Carlie Littlefield had 15 points, as did Julia Cunningham, while Grace Stone scored 11.

Princeton’s sole loss was an overtime setback at Iowa.

Ciaja Harbison scored 12 for Saint Louis.

The Tigers return home to host New Hampshire in their final non-conference game a week from Sunday at 1 p.m. in Jadwin Gym on Dec. 29.

Saint Joseph’s Tops Harvard in FAU Tourney Opener

And speaking of the Ivy League, Saint Joseph’s became the latest of now three Guru locals who have beaten representative Harvard, using a dominant 63-39 triumph over the Crimson in the first round of the Florida Atlantic Tourney (FAU Holiday Classic) in Baca Raton as freshman Claire Melia from Ireland and Katie Jekot combined for 33 points.

On Saturday, the Hawks (5-5) at 4 p.m. will play Furman (7-4), which beat the host school, 69-63, for the championship. They return to Hagan Arena for one more non-conference game, hosting Navy at 7 p.m. on Dec. 30, and then open play in the Atlantic 10.

Harvard (7-4) had previously lost to La Salle here in town at Tom Gola Arena and at Rutgers.

On Friday, Melia shot 7-for-10 to score a game-high 18 points while Jekot used three triplets to spur her on to scoring 15 points.

Mary Sheehan gained defensive kudos for handling Harvard’s Lola Mullaney, who had been averaging 17 points per game but was held to six points and failed to connect on any of five three-point attempts.

Looking Ahead: Big Five Action at La Salle

Besides the Saint Joseph’s wrap-up in Florida on Saturday, up here Villanova visits La Salle at 2:30 p.m. in the second Big Five tilt for each, though if the men finish their front end of the doubleheader quick enough the tip will come earlier since the option is 30 minutes after the La Salle men finish.

The Explorers (6-5, 0-1 Big Five) are coming off the Tuesday loss at Drexel while Villanova (4-5, 1-1) hasn’t played because of finals since a narrow loss at Temple.

On Sunday, just two of the remaining local D-I teams before the break are on a schedule that has Temple hosting a good one, greeting Florida Gulf Coast at noon, while Penn State hosts Sacred Heart in its last non-conference game at noon before hitting the Big Ten slate after the Christmas break.

In small college action Saturday, in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) surprising Holy Family (5-4, 3-0 CACC) will host Jefferson (4-6, 1-1) at noon at Campus Center in Northeast Philadelphia.

The host Tigers had a win over the Rams in the offseason in the Philadelphia/Suburban NCAA Women’s Summer League in Hatboro and ultimately upset defending champion USciences to win the league. 

The Devils (7-3, 1-1 CACC) on Saturday, who also lost to Holy Family earlier this month in the CACC season opener, will host Chestnut Hill at 1 p.m. at Bobby Morgan Arena in Southwest Philadelphia.

Lincoln (11-2, 3-1 CIAA), which had an eight-game win streak snapped in a league game at home Thursday 80-75 to Fayetteville State (5-6, 4-1) in Manuel Rivero Hall, visit North Carolina Central in Raleigh at 2 p.m.

Nationally Noted: McKeown Wins 700th Career Game

Northwestern topped East Carolina 64-45 in the West Palm Invitational hosted by Keiser University in Florida, thus giving Wildcats coach Joe McKeown, a graduate of Father Judge High in Northeast Philadelphia,  his 700^th career win.

McKeown also coached the New Mexico State and George Washington women before heading for the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill., above Chicago.

“I’m really, really fortunate to have coached so many great players at New Mexico State and then for 19 years at George Washington – incredible families and people,” said McKeown, who once sold hot dogs at Phillies games in old Connie Mack Stadium growing up in Northeast Philadelphia.

He is the 13^th active coach in Division I women’s basketball to reach 700, the fourth in the Big Ten, and 23^rd all time in Division.

 This is his 34^th season over which he collected 68 wins at New Mexico State (1986-89) and 441 at George Washington (1989-2008), and to date 191 at Northwestern.

Syracuse Upsets No. 19 Michigan State

Previously ranked Syracuse took down the Spartans 77-63 in the opener of the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winter Park as Gabrielle Cooper had 19 points while Emily Engster had 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Orange (6-4). Nia Clouden scored 20 points for the Spartans (7-3).

The tourney is a round-robin setup thus Michigan State faces No. 22 West Virginia on Saturday while Syracuse meets the Mountaineers on Sunday.

Gonzaga Spills Missouri State

In a battle of ranked Midwest Mid Major squads, the No. 17 Zags (11-1) of the West Coast Conference handled Missouri State at home in Spokane, Wash., as Jenn Wirth had 14 points and Katie Campbell scored 11 points for the Zags (11-1), whose only loss was a near-upset of Stanford prior to the Cardinal being No. 1.

Brice Clip had 15 points and Alexa Willard scored 11 for the Bears (9-2).

No. 16 DePaul after a previous challenge to No. 2 Connecticut had to hold off Loyola of Chicago 83-76 in a crosstown battle in the Windy City.

Chante Stonewall scored 25 points for the winning Blue Demons (10-2), who took the lead for good 74-72 on Sonya Morris’ 3-pointer with 3:07 left in regulation.

Jala Johnson had 14 points for the Ramblers (9-1) while Abby O’Connor and Allison Day each scored 16 points.

Elsewhere, host Seton Hall beat visiting Lafayette 74-50. Shadeen Samuels had 19 points for the host Pirates (7-4) over the Leopards (4-5). Leilani Correa had 31 points and the game-winner for Saint John’s in a 71-69 home win for the Red Storm (7-4) over Fairfield (3-5). 

Old Dominion in the second day of its round-robin Anne Donovan Classic in Norfolk, Va., beat Hampton 75-38 as Amari Young scored 14 points for the Lady Monarchs (9-2) against the Pirates (3-5). Mount St. Mary’s improved to 5-6 in beating Richmond 75-67 dropping the Spiders to 6-6 in the other game.

Kamiah Smalls had 23 points to lead CAA-favorite James Madison to a 69-50 win at George Washington (6-5) while improving to 8-2. North Carolina after suffering its first loss at Alabama bounced back with an 85-45 win at home over UNCW (3-8) as the Tar Heels (9-1) got 10 points and 15 rebounds from Janelle Bailey in Chapel Hill.

On Saturday Minnesota (9-1) will host Lehigh (7-2)  at 1 p.m. 

And that’s the report.