The Guru Report: Villanova Celebrates Alumni Return With Solid Win Over Georgetown

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA, Pa. – The annual Villanova women’s alumni basketball day was poignant for all Saturday as four-decades worth of stars, including Drexel coach Denise Dillon, came back to their alma mater to salute retiring coach Harry Perretta besides playing the old timers’ game.

Then the current timers made the rest of the occasion enjoyable by routing Georgetown 74-53 in a Big East game at Finneran Pavilion that was important to collect considering the road stops ahead next weekend and who the Wildcats (11-7, 5-2 Big East) will be hosting the following weekend.

“It’s murderers’ row,” said Perretta, who will be departing following the conclusion of his 42^nd season, all of which have been authored here on the Main Line.

Villanova, which for the moment is holding second place by a half-game, visits No. 14 DePaul (16-2, 2-0), the conference frontrunner, Friday night in Chicago and then on to Marquette in Milwaukee on Sunday. 

The following weekend, St. John’s visits Friday and Seton Hall Sunday, two teams the Wildcats swept on a recent road trip.

In other games Saturday in the Guru’s local collection of Division I and Small College schools, Saint Joseph’s fell at home to a rallying Duquesne contingent in the Atlantic 10, Rider topped Siena at home in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Lehigh fell at home to Bucknell in  battle of Patriot League unbeatens while among the Smalls it was a near sweep with Lincoln winning At Claflin in the CIAA, Rowan winning at home against Rutgers-Newark in the NJAC, and in the CACC, it was anther narrow win for front-running Holy Family, an easy win for USciences, but a two-point loss for Jefferson up at Concordia (N.Y.).

Back here, Villanova methodically built a 23-14 lead in the first quarter against the Hoyas (4-14,1-6) and then got extra help beyond freshman sensation Maddy Siegrist and Mary Gedaka in staying ahead the rest of the way.

It was another double-double for Siegrist with 15 points, nine of which came via 3-of-6 three-ball shooting, and 12 rebounds, while Gedaka tied teammate Bridget Herlihy for game honors with 17 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the field, while Herlihy also had four blocked shots and dealt five assists.

Herlihy scored just two short of her career high 19 points.

Cameron Onken had 13 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the field, 3-of-4 of which were via from beyond the arc, with six rebounds. Raven James scored nine shooting 3-for-5 from the field, while dealing six assists.

Gorgetown’s Taylor Barnes had 14 points, while Nikola Kovacikova scored 13.

“I thought it was really good for the kids to bounce back like that,” Perretta said of Villanova getting a second straight solid victory after beating Penn here Wednesday to clinch a share of the Big Five. “I was worried that we would be fatigued. I have to be honest with you, I’m fatigued.

“I just thought we played a very good game today. We gutted it out. We moved without the ball very well. And when you make shots, you just feel better. I thought our defense in the third quarter was much better, they only got eight points,” he added.

“In the first half, we scored the ball, but they also got 31, so we have to remind ourselves to always play good defense. 

“Bridget and Cameron (combined) got 30 points, that’s a lot, and Raven got some points, Kenzie (Gardler) got a three, so everybody contributed, and on the offensive end, it takes pressure off Maddy and Mary. Bridget has been playing really well, offense, defense, she’s been really good lately.”

The Wildcats are now 43-24 in the long-running series with the Hoyas, though a year ago while getting a lopsided 91-43 win here, Villanova fell 76-67 early in the Big East tourney in Chicago.

Perretta’s career record is now 776-483 overall and 339-272 in the Big East.

Ironically, wins number 100, 300, and becoming the 14th Division I coach to reach 700 all came against Georgetown.

After starting the season losing its first three games in November, Villanova is now 11-4 in its last 15 games.

Saint Joseph’s Fades in Loss to Duquesne at Hagan

Prior to the night game at Villanova, the Guru stopped at the Saint Joseph’s early game at home at Hagan Arena not far down the road from here and saw a Hawks team at one moment poised to snap a three-game losing streak with an 11-point lead late in the third quarter of the Atlantic 10 contest.

But then Duquesne (12-6, 2-3 A-10) began to rally and after the Hawks (7-10, 1-4) held a 49-47 lead with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left in regulation, the visitors erupted on a 9-0 run and finished winning 58-51.

Saint Joseph’s has lost all four games in the streak in conference play.

A bright spot was the play of freshman Kaliah Henderson from Tampa, Fla., who had a career-high and team-high 14 points, while also grabbing a career-best eight rebounds. She shot 6-for-10 from the field.

Katie Jekot also scored in double figures with 10 points and grabbed four steals for her second straight game.

Paige Cannon scored a game-high 19 points for Duquesne, while Libby Bazelak had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Hawks got good shots but couldn’t get the ball to drop, especially in the fourth quarter when Duquesne shot 5-for-10 from the field and Saint Joseph’s was 2-for-18, of which many were off long possessions extended through offensive rebounds.

They opened the period missing their first seven shots.

After the Dukes went ahead, Saint Joseph’s came back two more times for the lead on Mary Sheehan’s three-ball from the corner and soon thereafter on a layup to make it 49-47 with 3:38 left.

Duquesne then took off on its 9-0 run. 

“We battled,” Saint Joseph’s veteran coach Cindy Griffin said. “We had control of the game in the third, and for two-and-a-half quarters, I thought we played really well together and very smart.

“We knew they were going to go on a run. They’re a great team, and we couldn’t get the ball to go in the basket. We weren’t getting stops down the other end, which was disappointing. Putting them on the foul line really hurt,” she continued.

“Kaliah Henderson came in and gave us a great game. We relied on (freshman) Gabby Smalls and Jaden Walker came in and gave us some good minutes. So, we’re getting experience, but here’s the thing, you have to close out games, and we haven’t closed out the last two games.”

On Wednesday, the Hawks lost at home by two to Rhode Island, the first time in over two decades they’ve done that playing the Rams.

“We need to get back to the drawing board and back in the ring and keep fighting.”

Saint Joseph’s next has a conference game Wednesday at St. Bonaventure (4-13, 1-3 A-10) in Olean, N.Y., at 5 p.m. at the Reilly Center.

On Monday night, former Saint Joseph’s great Natasha Cloud will be honored across the river at the annual Philadelphia Sportswriters Association banquet at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Cloud was a member of this past season’s WNBA Washington Mystics championship contingent.

Rider Streak Continues as Broncs Top Siena

The Broncs rode four players scoring in double figures to gain their ninth straight victory, holding off Siena 70-66 and stay tied for first with Fairfield atop the MAAC still unbeaten in conference play following a home game played at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Rider (12-2, 5-0 MAAC) trailed the Saints by a point at the half but then used the third period to open a small separation by shooting 57 percent from the field and 70 percent from the line to outscore Siena 16-11 in the quarter.

The Broncs stayed in front the rest of the way helped when with a minute left in regulation Amanda Mobley’s two foul shots extended a one-point lead to three.

Four seconds were left when Rider freshman guard Maya Hyacienth stole an inbound pass and then hit 1-of-2 free throws.

Mobley finished with a game-high 17 points, while both Stella Johnson and Amari Johnson each had double-doubles – Stella, who had been he nation’s leading scorer, got 14 points and 10 rebounds while Amari had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Lea Favre added 12 points.

The Saints (3-13, 1-6) have now lost two straight games.

“Our defensive effort down the stretch was really solid,” said Rider longtime coach Lynn Milligan. “I thought our switches were on point. We forced Siena outside the perimeter and away from the basket, which was good.

“Maya had a great steal at the end. Our communication was really good. We stepped up those last few minutes and got some big stops to find a way to win today.”

The nine-game streak Is the first since the program-best 2016-17 season when Rider finished second in the MAAC, runnerup in the conference championship, and went to the postseason WNIT for the first time.

The Broncs have been a perfect 5-0 in games decided by five points or less, including Thursday’s win at pre-season favorite Marist in overtime.

Rider has now matched a 6-0 home start from the 1996-97 season, and has won 12 of its first 14 for the first time since 1993-94. Those are the only two times since the Broncs became a Division program after the 1981-82 season.

Rider hits the MAAC road this weekend, visiting Canisius Thursday in Buffalo, looking to avenge a home loss to the Golden Griffins last season, and then Niagara, Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Broncs return home from their Western New York trip to host Fairfield, which could be the next MAAC showdown, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.

The Stags stayed tied with Rider by beating Iona 52-40 on the road. 

Lehigh Falls to Bucknell in Patriot League Showdown

In a battle of Patriot League unbeatens Lehigh had several win streaks end falling to Bucknell 71-50 at home at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

The setback stopped an overall six-game run, a nine-game streak at home, and a 10-game league streak dating back to last season.

“We really did struggle offensively, tonight,” said Lehigh coach Sue Troyan. “Give Bucknell a lot of credit. I thought they did a good job of disrupting our offensive flow, not allowing us to get into what we wanted to do and that’s a credit to their defense.”

Bucknell opened with a 20-5 run to decide the game early.

Cameryn Benz had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the host Mountain Hawks (13-4, 5-1 Patriot League) and Camryn Buhr scored 10.

Bucknell (13-4, 6-0) has won four straight in the series and was led by Abby Kapp, who scored 23 points off a hot 6-for-8 on three-point attempts.

Lehigh next hosts Holy Cross Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Small Colleges: Holy Family Narrowly Wins Again to Stay Ahead of USciences

The Tigers are still unbeaten to stay atop the Southern Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) after a narrow 61-59 win at Bloomfield College in North Jersey.

This one came on grad student Mia Ehling shooting a game-winner with 7.0 seconds left in regulation at BC Gymnasium. 

And has been a recent trend for Holy Family (11-5, 9-0 CACC), another rally in the fourth quarter was needed, this time from a nine-point deficit at 56-47 following Jaylah Bennett nailing a three-ball with 3:26 left in regulation for Bloomfield (4-14, 3-6).

The Tigers closed with a 14-3 run to complete the rally under first-year coach and alum Bernadette Laukaitis, who had served as associate head coach at Penn to Mike McLaughlin, following the duo holding similar roles at Holy Family in Northeast Philadelphia after she had played for him.

As the game wound down, Bloomfield tied it 59-59 on a foul shot in a 1-for-2 situation.

The Tigers’ Anjelai Hayes then drove length-of-the-court, then dished in the far-right corner to Ehling, who connected with the game-winner.

The Bears had a chance on the ensuing possession, but Holy Family forced a tie-up and gained possession to seal the win.

Elizabeth Radley had a game-high 25 points and also grabbed seven rebounds as her career scoring total reached 989, just 11 short of 1,000. Ehling had 14 points and Moe Moore had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Bloomfield’s Caitlin Townes scored 21 points and Bennett had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Holy Family is off until Saturday, when the Tigers travel to play Concordia at 1 p.m. in Bronxville, N.Y.

Meanwhile, USciences stayed on Holy Family’s heels since the Devils’ upset loss at home to the Tigers at the start of league play.

On Saturday, they beat North Division leader Post 67-50 as Irisa Ye and Jordan Vitelli combined for 54 points for the No. 24 Devils (14-3, 8-1 CACC), who extended their win streak by nine since the upset loss at home to Holy Family.

Ye had a career-high 33 points, shooting 15-of-26 from the field while dishing five assists and Vitelli on 8-from-13 from the field scored 21 and she also dished five assists in the home game at Bobby Morgan Arena in Southwest Philadelphia.

Taylor Williams scored 14 for Post (11-4, 6-2).

USciences next heads to Wilmington in Delaware at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the first of three on the road.

Jefferson fell just short of making it another local CACC sweep, losing at Dominican (N.Y.) 70-68 in Orangeburg in an NCAA DII Showcase game aired on the NCAA’s Facebook and twitter pages.

The visiting Rams (7-9, 4-4 CACC) had held a 60-54 lead against the Chargers (8-9, 6-2) with 7:39 left in regulation.

Dominican then went on a 9-0 run to go in front 63-60 before Allie Warren tied with a triple with 2:47 left in the period.

The home team scored but Alynna Williams answered for a 66-65 Jefferson laid. It was still a one-point advantage after an exchange of baskets, but the Chargers took control on a three-ball leading 70-67 with 1:15 left.

The Rams, however, were unable to convert the rest of the way despite having five chances to tie or take the lead.

Dominican twice blocked shots in that stretch including one with four seconds left.

Haley Meinel had 20 points, four rebounds, three steals, a block, and an assists for Jefferson, while Williams scored 12, followed by Maddie Haney with 11 points and Sabria Lytes with 10.

Jefferson next hosts Chestnut Hill Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Gallagher Center.

Lincoln Still Hot

The Lions made it five wins in their last six games, beating Claflin 74-61 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assciation game in Orangeburg, S.C. as DeAshia Young and Kwanza Murray combined for 41 points and Kenzie Spencer scored 20 off the bench.

Lincoln (16-3, 6-1 CIAA) is currently No. 7 in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll.

Murray scored 24 points against the Panthers (0-16, 0-9), still in search of their first victory on the season. Young scored 17, fueled by a perfect 11-for-11 on foul shots, and her five assists included her 200^th of her career. Spencer shot six three-balls to fuel her 20 points.

In what has become a race in-house between Spencer and Murray, the former moved back into second place in program history with 107 three-balls while Murray drops to third with 103.

Lincoln’s Alisia Machado had a game-high nine rebounds.

The Lions return home Monday to host Elizabeth City State University at 5:30 p.m.

Rowan Cruises Past Rutgers-Newark

Five players scored in double figures as the Profs drove to an easy 89-50 win over Rutgers-Newark in a NJAC game at home in Glassboro.

Eliana Santana and Alexis Kriley each scored 15 points, Savanna Holt had 14, Kenny Brown scored 12, and Jazlyn Duverglas had 10 and tied a career-high with seven rebounds.

Ayanna Johnson was a defensive force for the first-place Profs (14-2, 8-1 NJAC) with 15 rebounds and blocking five shots while scoring nine points. She’s third in the nation in both categories.

The Scarlet Raiders (2-14, 0-9) got 10 points from Comfort Akinbo.

Rowan next visits Rutgers-Camden at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Nationally Noted: Old Dominion Rebirth Continues

In year three under former Tennessee star Nikki McCray, Old Dominion continues to have returned to winning ways, the latest a 57-46 triumph over Marshall at home in a Conf-USA game at home in Norfolk, Va.

The home team had to survive a 14-0 run in the third quarter from Marshall.

The second place Lady Monarchs (14-3, 4-1 C-USA) got 19 points from Ajah Wayne and 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double, and Amari Young had 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against the Thundering Herd (7-10, 2-4). Taylor Edwards scored 11.  

Columbia Rallies Over Cornell

Two other partners in the Ivy League got started, playing each other, and Columbia topped Cornell 76-66 at home in Levien Gym in New York for the Lions’ first opening win in league play in six seasons.

Overall, Columbia has won nine of its last 10.

The Lions (10-4) are getting the comeback mode down well after successfully mounting a fifth fourth-quarter rally this season in beating Cornell (7-6).

“I think we’re taking a lot of pride, not just that this is our home, but in that what we do between these lines has nothing to do with who walks in this gym,” said Columbia coach Megan Griffith, a former Princeton assistant now back at her alma mater who is also a native of King of Prussia.

“As long as we can keep that mindset, that momentum and bring it on the road with us, this team is going to be really special.”

Abbey Hsu, who keyed the comeback with Lilian Kennedy, and Sienna Durr each scored 17 points for the Lions, who also got 12 points, a career-best seven steals, and five assists from Janiya Clemmons, and Mikayla Markham scored 13.

The two teams meet again next Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y. at Cornell. 

Looking Ahead:  Drexel Greets Delaware on Homecoming Weekend

Less than 24 hours after appearing at her alma mater Villanova’s alumni day, Drexel coach Denise Dillon will be guiding the Dragons after their alumni event against Delaware, their long on-going local rival in a Colonial Athletic Association game at 2 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Temple will try to make it six straight victories when the Owls visit Wichita State at 3 p.m. in Kansas in an American Athletic Conference game.

La Salle will try to snap a 10-game losing streak and has a shot to do so when the Explorers host a struggling St. Bonaventure team in a 3 p.m. game at home in Tom Gola Arena in the Atlantic 10 that will air on the NBC Sports Network.

Penn State travels to Northwestern for a 3 p.m. tip in the Big Ten at Evanston, Ill., above Chicago that is a key game for both. The Lady Lions, though locked in a multiple tie at the bottom, is sitting at the very bottom after tiebreaks are determined, while the Wildcats, though locked in a multiple tie at the top, sit in the very top position via tiebreaks.

Among national games of interest, North Carolina hosts No. 6 Louisville in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at 1 p.m., while in another ranked power clash in the PAC-12 meeting, Oregon State hosts Stanford, at 3 p.m.

And that’s the report.