The Guru Report: Rider and Princeton Keep Winning While Baylor Gets ‘Juicy’ Record

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Rider decided to hold a promotional Ugly Sweater Night Wednesday alongside its non-conference game hosting nearby Wagner at Alumni Gymnasium but not on the plan was the Broncs providing some moments of ugliness in the team’s performance.

Nevertheless, veteran coach Lynn Milligan’s squad was able to overcome a slow start and withstand a fourth-quarter rally to go ahead and prevail with a 77-63 victory over Wagner to conclude its pre-holiday/post-finals period and resume taking more time off.

Elsewhere, only one of the other of the Guru’s local 11 D-1 squads saw action and in that one, Princeton from up the road here in Central New Jersey gave a tremendous defensive performance in romping over host Missouri 68-33.

But first back here, where the Broncs (6-2) extended their win streak to three and also stayed unbeaten at home.

Trailing 19-15 after the first period, Rider picked up the pace and took an 18-6 domination in the next for a 31-27 halftime lead.

 That differential grew to as much as 20 early in the fourth quarter before Wagner knocked down some three pointers and got within nine.

Rider then regrouped and put another one in the win column while sending the Seahawks (4-5) back to Staten Island and most of the rest of the season in the Northeast Conference.

“Anytime you compete on your home floor, it’s always special,” said Milligan afterwards. “We take a lot of pride in protecting our home floor. I was really happy with the win tonight.

“When we needed to get points on the board, we did. We need to be a little more consistent on the defensive end, obviously. Overall, any time you can win a game this time of year with exams and everything, it’s nice.”

Amari Johnson had a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Broncs while Stella Johnson, who picked up another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekly honor Monday, had 18 points and seven rebounds while the two Johnsons each blocked a pair of shots.

Lea Favre also scored in double figures with 12 points.

Wagner’s Alex Cowan was tough to handle, scoring 24 points, while Khaleah Edwards scored 13, but everyone else was held in check and Rider was good in transition outscoring Wagner 27-12 in points off turnovers.

The Broncs also shot 50 percent from the floor at 31 of 62 shots.

The two teams had not met since December 2006, which was 13 seasons ago.

There’s one more out of league game left coming after the Christmas break when Rider travels to Delaware State, 4 p.m. on December 30, and that will be a first meeting in 16 seasons dating back to November 2003.

Then after New Year’s comes the opening in MAAC play, hosting Niagara Jan. 2 at 7 p.m., visiting Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., the following Saturday at 1 p.m. and then an early hosting of defending MAAC champion Quinnipiac at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Though the Bobcats have ruled the conference in recent years, Marist is the league pick of the conference coaches. Rider gets the Red Foxes next a week later at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., near Albany on Jan. 16. By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Rider decided to hold a promotional Ugly Sweater Night Wednesday alongside its nonconference game hosting nearby Wagner at Alumni Gymnasium but not on the plan was the Broncs providing some moments of ugliness in the team’s performance.

Nevertheless, veteran coach Lynn Milligan’s squad was able to overcome a slow start and withstand a fourth-quarter rally to go ahead and prevail with a 77-63 victory over Wagner to conclude its pre-holiday/post-finals period sand resume taking more time off.

Elsewhere, only one of the other of the Guru’s local 11 D-1 squads saw action and in that one, Princeton from up the road here in Central New Jersey gave a tremendous defensive performance in romping over host Missouri 68-33.

But first back here, where the Broncs (6-2) extended their win streak to three and also stayed unbeaten at home.

Trailing 19-15 after the first period, Rider picked up the pace and took an 18-6 domination in the next for a 31-27 halftime lead. That differential grew to as much as 20 early in the fourth quarter before the Dutchwomen knocked down some three pointers and got within nine.

Rider then regrouped and put another one in the win come whole sending the Seahawks (4-5) back to Staten Island and most of the rest of the season in the Northeast Conference.

“Anytime you compete on your home floor, it’s always special,” said veteran coach Lynn Milligan afterwards. “We take a lot of pride in protecting our home floor. I was really happy with the win tonight.

“When we needed to get points on the board, we did. We need to be a little more consistent on the defensive end, obviously. Overall, any time you can win a game this time of year with exams and everything, it’s nice.”

Amari Johnson had a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Broncs while Stella Johnson, who picked up another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekly honor Monday, had 18 points and seven rebounds while the two Johnsons each blocked a pair of shots.

Lea Favre also scored in double figures with 12 points.

Wagner’s Alex Cowan

 Was tough to handle, scoring 24 points, while Khaleah Edwards scored 13 but everyone else was held in check and Rider was good in transition outscoring Wagner 27-12 in points off turnovers.

The Broncs also shot 50 percent from the floor at 31 of 62 shots.

The two teams had not met since December 2006, which was 13 seasons ago.

There’s one more out of league game left coming after the Christmas break when Rider travels to Delaware State, 4 p.m. on December 30, and that will be a first meeting in 16 seasons dating back to November 2003.

Then after New Year’s comes opening in MAAC play, hosting Niagara Jan. 2 at 7 p.m., visiting Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., the following Saturday at 1 p.m. and then an early hosting of defending MAAC champion Quinnipiac at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Though the Bobcats have ruled the conference in recent years, Marist is the league pick of the conference coaches. Rider gets the Red Foxes next a week later at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., near Albany on Jan. 16.

Milligan was asked if the play to date might make her squad more confident over Rider’s chances in MAAC play looming just ahead.

“We certainly started the season off with some good solid wins,” she said. “Obviously, the Penn State and Xavier wins and the Georgetown win, some games that people may not have thought we were capable of winning.

“So that pointed us in the right direction and has given us a little more confidence early in the season. What we have to do now, I know it’s coach speak, but make sure we are in a game by game mentality and make sure we get better every single day because we know what’s ahead of us,” she continued.

“We have six seniors on this team. They know what’s coming, they know the grind of the MAAC. They know there’s a target on our back. They know we have to show up every night. They know we have to show up ready to play and take everybody’s best punch. We have to continue to prepare for that.”

With the postseason tournament championship leading to an NCAA bid moving from years up in Albany, N.Y. to nearby Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Rider is looking to be in a situation to draw more of its fans to both the men’s and women’s competition.

In other MAAC news, longtime commissioner Richard Ensor had his contract extended through 2022.

Princeton Locks Down Missouri

Back on Media Day, new Princeton coach Carla Berube had talked about bringing an approach to defense, changing the system of former coach Courtney Banghart somewhat that even reigning two-time Ivy player of the year Bella Alarie said she felt like a freshman with the new learning disciplines that were undertaken.

Well, it’s working.

The Tigers ran their non-conference record to 10-1 with a road win over a Power 5 squad in  a meeting of Tigers in Columbia, downing the Southeastern Conference member 68-33 for the lowest points allowed in a game in the program’s history.

The game played at the Mizzou Arena was just the forth time Missouri (3-9) was held to 33 and was only able to connect from the field for just 12 baskets.

Carlie Littlefield had 22 points for the visitors along with seven rebounds and three steals while Alarie was short of another double double with 12 points and nine rebounds, slong with three blocked shots while Ellie Mitchell had 10 rebounds.

Missouri’s Hayley Frank was the sole home Tiger in double figures, scoring 10 points while Princeton dominated the backboards 45-30.

Princeton finishes the pre-holiday stretch on the road Friday, visiting Saint Louis of the Atlantic 10 Conference at 8 p.m.

Nationally Noted: Stanford Handles Tennessee While Baylor Star Sets Three-Point Mark

No. 23 Tennessee still has a rebuilding way to go under new coach but former Lady Vols star Kellie Harper based on its latest setback, losing at top-ranked Stanford 78-51 in Maples Pavilion in the Bay Area.

The other Tennessee (8-2) loss was at home to Texas and of course like Stanford (10-0), in the PAC-12, the Lady Vols will face a multitude of ranked teams in conference play in the SEC.

Stanford’s Kiana Williams had 19 points, including the 1,000^th of her career, and dished for seven assists. Lexi Hull had 11 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinal are just a victory short of their best start since going 11-0 seven seasons ago in 2012-13.

Rennia Davis had 14 points for Tennessee, but off shooting just 5-for-20, and no other Lady Vol scored in double digits. 

Though the Vols have dominated the long-running intersectional series, the Cardinal have owned the turf in recent seasons with this win by 27, the largest in the series which also saw Tennessee dip to a scoring low.

“People are really working hard at both ends of the court and they’re encouraging each other, which I think is so special,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.

Tennessee was held to shooting 25.6 percent from the field for the first half and just  28 percent for the game.

“We weren’t getting a lot of looks, even when we made those,” Harper said. I think their defense is probably a little underrated.”

Tennessee has dominated the series but in recent seasons, Stanford has won 6 of 9 and taken nine of its 12 at home.

When it comes to playing a team ranked No. 1, Tennessee is 14-34 overall and 6-7 on the road.

 The last Tennessee win over a No. 1 ranked team came edging LSU 67-65 on March 6, 2005. 

The Cardinal head to Texas Sunday prior to the next schedule break.

Raining Threes

Defending champion and No. 7 Baylor playing Arkansas State at home in Waco, Texas, did not seem to be a game on anyone’s radar and from the outcome the 111-43 triumph by the Bears (9-1) on its face proved as much.

However, it became a noteworthy event anyway thanks to Juicy Landrum who set an NCAA, Big 12, and Baylor record by connecting with 14 three-pointers, accounting for all 42 of her career-high points.

Landrum put up 24 from the field and all but one was attempted beyond the arc making her three-point accuracy hit 14-for-23 while as a team Baylor on threes was 15-for-33 for 46 percent and 59 percent overall.

The Baylor senior also had eight rebounds and seven assists alongside her record breaker while the other trey was by Trinity Oliver. 

The Bears are 56-0 outside the Big 12 at home since a loss to Connecticut in January, 2004.

Coach Kim Mulkey’s squad visits No. 2 Connecticut early next month.

Landrum was 0-1 in her only attempt inside the arc while her previous career-high was 23 points.

Arkansas State (3-7) got 16 points from Jireh Washington.

Landrum had plenty of time to practice with Baylor playing just one game in a 25-day stretch. 

The Bears next host Morehead State on Dec. 30 and begin conference play at Oklahoma Jan. 4.

Small Colleges: Lincoln Looks to Keep Streak Alive

Off to its best start in program history, Lincoln will be in conference play hosting Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) rival Fayetteville State University at 5:30 p.m. Thursday looking for the Lions’ ninth straight overall victory.

Lincoln made it eight straight on Tuesday, beating Caldwell 94-52, certainly a win much easier than the previous one by the Lions (11-1) in becoming the first D2 Atlantic Region squad to reach 11 victories.

The squad is ranked #5 in the most recent D2SIDA Atlantic Region Media Poll and is drawing votes in the WBCA national division 2 poll.

Kwanza Murray had a game-high 18 points against Caldwell (1-9), while Skydajah Patterson had 13 points and seven rebounds, Alisia Machado had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Shantel Cheeks had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

DeAshia Young seven assists, her seventh straight game reaching at least seven helpers.

And that’s the report.