The Guru Report: Temple and Rider Get Big Wins While Oregon With Ionescu Blasts Stanford

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – It was a lights out night Thursday both locally among the Guru’s four Division I teams that saw action and nationally for the preseason favorite and its superstar guard while there were some other noteworthy results.

Here at Temple’s McGonigle Hall the Owls held off the No. 2 pick in the American Athletic Conference after building what seemed to be a comfortable lead over South Florida while Rider on the road took down Marist, the preseason favorite in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and in the Big Ten the two Guru teams battled it out and Rutgers emerged victorious at Penn State.

Nationally, out West where a number of the elite squads for this season exists, particularly in the PAC-12, No. 6 Oregon at home in Eugene upset No. 3 Stanford 87-55 as Ducks senior Sabrina Ionescu set both the career record for scoring in the Oregon program and had a career high 37 points as the Ducks handed the Cardinal their first conference loss.

Temple Wins Fifth Straight by Beating USF

The Owls took off from a narrow 33-30 lead at the half and dominated the third quarter before hanging on to hold off the Bulls just enough in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 69-66 victory.

Mia Davis poured 25 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field and connecting on all three-point attempts besides grabbing eight rebounds for Temple (11-6, 4-1 American), which jumped into third place behind Connecticut and Tulane.

Ashley Jones, a transfer from West Virginia, who played high school ball here at Neumann-Goretti. scored 16 off the bench, grabbed six rebounds, and dealt four assists, while Lia Nang had a trio of three balls for all nine of her points, and Marissa Mackins scored eight points, and Asonah Alexander scored seven, and Shannen Atkinson grabbed seven rebounds.

USF (10-7, 2-1) got 20 points from Elena Tsineke, who shot 4-of-7 three-point attempts, while Sydni Harvey scored 17, Bethy Mununga grabbed nine rebounds.

A 24-13 third period enabled the Owls to bolt to an 18-point lead before the Bulls mounted a fourth-quarter rally to pull within a basket with 1:46 left in regulation.

Temple’s Mackins then made one foul shot, Davis got a big rebound for a stop followed by two more free throws from the Owls for a 69-64 lead with 13 seconds left.

USF then hit two foul shots to account for the final score.

“This is a great win for us playing at home against a team like South Florida, well coached, and can execute and had great scorers,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza.

“I thought it was a key for us to come out and make shots early,” she said. “And early on, I thought we did a good job, defensively, because especially lately in our conference people had big leads and yesterday, specifically, two teams had 16-point leads and lost the game, and we were able to withstand their run down the end and came up with some key rebounds.

“I’m really excited about it. I know my players are excited, it’s been a long time since we beat South Florida, again, it’s a good one for us.”

Cardoza called it a growth step in Temple being able to withstand runs and get a win and that what’s next is to hang on to leads when the Owls build them.

“The one good thing that’s different from last year and the year before is that Mia doesn’t have to hold the burden to try to score every single time. In the past, to win we needed Mia to score, but now that we have others that if she doesn’t have a great night, other guys can pick up the slack.”

Temple next goes to Wichita State on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Owls are back here in McGonigle Hall next Thursday at 7, hosting Penn in a Big Five game in which the winner will share this season’s title with Villanova that claimed its share by beating Penn Wednesday night and preventing the Quakers from having a chance to win the City Series outright at 4-0.

Elsewhere in the conference, Connecticut, which had gotten back to No. 1 in the nation in both polls but fell to fourth in the Associated Press poll after last week’s loss to then-No. 6 Baylor at home in Hartford, struggled at UCF on the way to a slim 59-52 win over Central Florida in Orlando.

While the Huskies (15-1, 6-0 AAC) have never lost a conference game since being part of the formation of the American, it’s only the second time UConn has won by single digits in its 126-0 AAC record to date, including all six previous tournaments since 2013-14.

Next season the Huskies are headed back to the rebuilt Big East.

Megan Walker had 19 points for the visitors while Crystal Dangerfield, who keyed a big rally, finished with 13 points, five assists, and three steals, and Olivia Nelson-Odala had nine points and 12 rebounds.

Kay Kay Wright scored 18 points for UCF (9-6, 1-2).

The Huskies have a bunch of home games ahead but their long time in the Top 5 dating over a decade is in jeopardy considering the visitors just ahead will include Tennessee, an exhibition with the USA National Team, both in Hartford, and Oregon in Storrs at the campus Gampel Arena besides a visit to South Carolina, which replaced UConn as No. 1 after last week’s large group of upset victories.

Rider Upsets Marist in Overtime on The Road

A week after beating Quinnipiac for the first time ever before a first-ever sellout of 1,700 at home, Rider made it three wins in four trips to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) preseason favorite Marist, beating the Red Foxes 76-72 at McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., near Albany to snap Marist’s six-game win streak.

The Broncs (11-2, 4-0) have won eight straight and now share the conference lead with Fairfield, which is 7-6 overall and is also 4-0 in the MAAC after edging Canisius 72-70 Thursday night in Connecticut.

 Rider rallied from a three-point deficit late in overtime holding Marist (11-3, 4-1) scoreless the final 90 seconds.

Amanda Mobley's three-pointer tied it with under a minute left after leader Stella Johnson had fouled out. 

Following a stop, Tracey Goodman hit a pair of foul shots to put up the Broncs for the lead the rest of the way.

Stella Johnson had 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Mobley had 11 points and 10 assists, and Lea Favre set a career-high with 24 points.

“I think we were locked down defensively down the stretch,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Obviously, they are a tremendous offensive team. Stops can win a game in overtime and I think they did today.

“I’m proud of out effort today. We had some unsung heroes on the defensive end.”

Mobley, who hit a buzzer-beating shot for a three-pointer from three-quarter court going into the half, set a career high with the 10 assists, while Amari Johnson had 10 rebounds for Rider.

Stella Johnson now has four games hitting 11 shots from the field while others in the conference have done that just once.

The Broncs have now won both overtime games and are 5-0 in games decided by five or fewer points.

Rider next hosts Siena in a MAAC game at 4 p.m. in Lawrence Township, above Trenton, N.J.

Rutgers Edges Penn State to Stay Among the Frontrunners in the Big Ten

In a close game between two longtime geographical rivals, who are now both in the Big Ten and are also part of the Guru’s local 11 Division I schools, Rutgers topped Penn State 62-57 in the Lady Lions’ Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

 The Scarlet Knights (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten) are in the second place standing spot while in a three-way first-place tie behind Northwestern (15-2, 5-1) and ahead of Iowa (4-3, 5-1).

Penn State (7-10, 1-5) is in a four-way tie for 11^th but is in the very last spot behind Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Arella Guirantes scored and hit a foul shot for a 57-54 lead in the final 30 seconds and then she and Noga Peleg combined to go 4-for-4 from the line clinch the game.

Rutgers’ Jordan Wallace had all 12 of her team-leading points in the third quarter and also grabbed nine rebounds in the game while Guirantes had 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Khadaizha Sanders scored 11 in the first half when the Scarlet Knights took a 29-23 lead into the break.

Siyeh Frazier had 14 points for the Lady Lions, Kamaria McDonald scored 11, and Alisia Smith scored 10.

“We talked in the locker room about how being that close doesn’t cut it,” said Penn State first-year coach Carolyn Kieger, who previously was at Marquette. “We’re getting there, we’re getting better, but at the end of the day we have to approach these games with some confidence that we can get the W.

“Rutgers is at the top of the league and I felt we played them pretty well on the defensive end, but e have to have a little more confidence, a little bit more grit, and come away with some big plays at the end.”

The Scarlet Knights have won 9 of 10 from Penn State, 27-18 since 1977, and are 8-1 with the Lady Lions as Big Ten opponents.

Rutgers next hosts Michigan State Monday on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at 6 p.m. in Piscataway, N.J., while Penn State heads to Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., Sunday at 3 p.m.

At 15-2, it’s the best Rutgers season start since going 16-1 in 1990-91 on the way to the NCAA tournament.

Northwestern made a case Thursday night to return to the polls after upsetting its second nationally-ranked conference team this season, beating No. 15 Indiana 71-69 in overtime on the road in Bloomington.

The Wildcats (15-2, 5-1) earlier beat Maryland, the preseason favorite.

Abi Scheid had 16 points for Northwestern, Veronica Burton scored 15, while Abbie Wolf and Lindsey Pulliam scored 13 and 12 respectively.

The team is coached by Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, who recently earned his 700^th victory associated with the Wildcats and previously with New Mexico State and George Washington.

Northwestern outscored the Hoosiers17-5 in the final 7:13 of regulation, including the last five to force overtime and then score the last six in the extra period.

Mackenzie Holmes, a freshman, tied her career high with 22 for Indiana (24-4, 4-2), which also got 16 from Grace Berger and 12 from Ali Patberg.

Elsewhere in the conference, No. 22 Iowa narrowly avoided an upset, winning at Minnesota 76-75, while No. 20 Maryland at home in College Park beat Nebraska 87-69.

Oregon Routs Stanford as Ionescu Sets Records

In the lone PAC-12 contest of the night, No. 6 Oregon, which started the season No. 1, redeemed itself from last weekend’s loss to then-unranked Arizona State, which prevented the Ducks from returning to the top, by beating No. 3 Stanford 87-55 at home in Eugene.

The Cardinal (15-2, 4-1 PAC-12) had also held the No. 1 spot before being knocked out by Texas.

Sabrina Ionescue, the frontrunner for national player of the year and likely the overall No. 1 pick by the New York Liberty in this spring’s WNBA draft, added to her resume with a career-high 37 points, enabling her to become the all-time career scorer at Oregon (14-2, 4-1).

She needed 24 prior to the game to catch the career mark held previously by Alison Lang, who had 2,252 points when she graduated in 1984.

Ionescue, who now has 2,265, holds the NCAA record above men or women with 22 triple doubles. Her previous career best scoring night was 36 also against Stanford.

On Thursday, she also had 11 rebounds and seven assists. Satou Sabally had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks.

Kiana Williams had 15 for Stanford, while Lexie Hull scored 10 in a game Stanford trailed by as many as 30 points.

Nationally Noted: N.C. State Handles Florida State 

In an Atlantic Coast Conference game between two ranked teams, No. 9 North Carolina State at home in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh topped No. 13 Florida State 68-51 as Elissa Cunane had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the winning Wolfpack (16-1, 5-1 ACC).

Kiah Gillespie scored 22 for the Seminoles (15-3, 4-3).

No. 11 Kentucky beat No. 12 Texas A&M at home in Lexington in the Southeastern Conference as Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard had 16 of her 24 points in the second half for the Wildcats (15-2, 4-1 SEC).

Kayla Wells and Ciera Johnson both scored 18 for Texas A&M (14-3, 3-2).

North Carolina at home in Chapel Hill topped Miami 78-58 in another ACC game  as Janelle Bailey had 28 for the winning Tar Heels, under first year and former Princeton coach Courtney Barnet.

Mykea Gray scored 21 for the Hurricanes.

Also in the ACC, Georgia Tech won at Syracuse 82-64 while Duke won at Notre Dame 50-47.

In Conference USA Old Dominion snapped an 11-game series losing streak to Western Kentucky 76-65 at home in Norfolk.

Duke at home in the ACC beat Notre Dame 50-47.

And that’s the report. Believe it or not there are no games on the schedule Friday for the Guru to have listed.

Delaware and Drexel, travel CAA partners, are off waiting to play at Drexel Sunday while likewise Villanova is waiting to host Georgetown, it’s Big East partner, on Saturday..

Temple, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle, Rutgers, Penn State, Penn, and Rider just played in the last 48 hours while Princeton is on its three-week break for academics.