The Guru Report: Lincoln Sets Win Mark; Olden Days Return for ODU

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Rider bounced back, Rutgers and Penn State got bounced around again, Lincoln set another record, and some pay-attention results on the national scene with Old Dominion upsetting Rice in overtime, Maryland thumping Iowa in the Big Ten, Louisville snapping North Carolina State in the ACC, and LSU handling Tennessee in the SEC.

Let’s go to the action:

Lincoln Keeps Streaking and Sets Lions Win Record

  In the only small college action Thursday night on the Guru’s ongoing local radar, Lincoln on the road made it program record number 10 straight and program record 23 overall wins on the season by beating Virginia State University 65-58 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) game played in Ettrick, Va.

The D-II Lions are now 23-3 overall, 12-1 in the CIAA (figures the Guru was there for that one setback), and 6-0 against North Division foes with two division games left on the schedule while the Trojans drop to 9-17 overall and 4-9 in the league.

They are also 17th in the D2SIDA poll and the top also ran in the WBCA D-2 national coaches’ poll.

Lincoln’s Bryanna Brown and Kenzie Spencer each scored 11 points while Joy Morton had a team-high nine rebounds.

In her 17^th game and fourth straight the Lions’ DeAshia Young dished the five assists or more plateau dealing exactly five against the home team. 

Though Lincoln kept building comfortable leads, some into double digits, the Trojans kept rallying and the Lions were only up by three 56-53 with 5 minutes, 26 seconds left in regulation.

Lincoln was able to get away from that slim margin only to see VSU pull within five with 30 seconds left.

Morton, however, clinched the win and the records on the next possession with a pair of foul shots with seven seconds left.

Lincoln next visits nationally ranked Virginia Union on Saturday at 2 p.m. 

The Lions then get the week off game action until the following Saturday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. when they visit Bowie State in Bowie, Md.

Rider Returns to Winning Form

Following Tuesday night’s near-comeback against preseason favorite Marist that put the Red Foxes back in front by a half-game in the win column, the Broncs stopped their two-game drought, preventing further slippage and went on to a solid 69-38 win over Siena in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game played at Loudonville, N.Y., in suburban Albany.

Stella Johnson, the nation’s scoring leader in Division I, continued her attack on the basket, scoring a game-high 22 points, while grabbing six steals and dealing five assists.

Amari Johnson was back in harness collecting double doubles, in this one, she had 14 points and 12 rebounds for a MAAC-leading 14^th in the category. 

Lea Favre, who had an uncharacteristically bad shooting night against Marist, scored 14 points and Amanda Mobley had 11 for Rider (18-4, 11-2 MAAC).

The win gave the Broncs a season sweep of the Saints (8-14, 6-7).

“This game was about us,” said Rider veteran coach Lynn Milligan. “I think that the biggest thing that we did today that we didn’t do the last two games was start well. I was really happy with the way we came out today, particularly on the defensive end.

“We’re built on our defense. Everything we do with our flow comes from our defense.”

The win tied Milligan with Eldon Price for most Rider victories by a women’s coach with 162.

The defense forced 28 turnovers that was worth 32 points for the Broncs.

Stella Johnson has now scored 1,970 points in her career as Rider heads to Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y., Saturday at 2 p.m. going after a sweep of the Jaspers, who upset Quinnipiac 77-62 to knock the longtime reigning rulers of the MAAC three games back in the loss column behind Marist and the Broncs.

Big Ten: Penn State and Rutgers Drop Again While Maryland Trounces Iowa

Only two others of the locals in the Guru’s 11-team Division I group played and has been the trend in recent weeks, Rutgers lost narrowly, this time 57-53 at Michigan State in Lansing, while Penn State got whacked at Nebraska, 75-58.

Elsewhere in the conference in a major showdown with first place on the line No. 10 Maryland avenged an earlier loss, beating No. 17 Iowa 93-50 at home in the Xfinity Center in College Park.

Northwestern kept pace, edging Michigan on the road 66-60 at Ann Arbor.

The Terrapins (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) are now a half-game in front of Northwestern (21-3, 11-2) in the win column and split with the Wildcats, while Iowa (20-5, 11-3) drops to third.

Rutgers (17-7, 7-6) is now sixth in an exact tie conference-wise with Michigan (16-8, 7-6), while Penn State (7-18, 1-13) is at the bottom of the 14-team league and the win by Nebraska (16-9,  9-8) has the Cornhuskers in ninth.

In the narrowly fought Rutgers game, Jordan Wallace had a career-high 19 points against the Spartans (12-12, 5-8) who are 10^th.

The Scarlet Knights missed a potential game-tying layup and forced to foul, sent Michigan State to the line to finish the victory with four straight free throws.

Wallace also grabbed nine rebounds and Arella Guirantes scored 12.

The game was heading Rutgers’ way in terms of victory until the Spartans near the end launched a 10-0 run propelled by a pair of three-balls to erase a 12-point deficit and go ahead by four approaching the final minute of regulation.

The top four seeds get double byes in the Big Ten tourney at Indianapolis, while the next six teams get a first-round bye.

The Scarlet Knights begin their final five games, four of which are at home, on Sunday in the Rutgers Athletic Center hosting Michigan at noon in Piscataway, N.J. 

Penn State, meanwhile, continues to struggle under first-year coach Carolyn Kieger, formerly at Marquette.

On the road in this one at Lincoln, Neb., at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Lady Lions allowed four Huskers scoring in double figures, paced by Leigha Brown’s game-high 20 points, while Ashtyn Veerbeek was next with 12.

Penn State held its own in the first half, trailing 32-31, before Nebraska exploded for 26 points in the third quarter, while the visitors scored just 12.

Freshman Makenna Marisa had 15 points for the Lady Lions, who return home Sunday to the Bryce Jordan Center to host Maryland at 2 p.m.

The Terrapins,Thursday night, had Kaila Charles score 21 points in their win over the Hawkeyes, which was their 10^th straight overall. 

Iowa came into the game on an 11-of-12 streak that had Maryland in their earlier meeting victimized at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Freshman Ashley Owusu had 17 points and 10 assists, while Shakira Austin scored 20, while Stephanie Jones was 8-for-8 from the floor on the way to 16 points.

Iowa’s Monika Czinano scored 15 while Kathleen Doyle scored 10. The Hawkeyes were forced into 27 turnovers.

Nationally Noted: Old Dominion Highlights Night of Upsets

It’s been over a decade since the Lady Monarchs were close to the legendary group paced by Nancy Lieberman, Inge Nissen, and the late Anne Donovan, that won two national titles in the pre-NCAA era and another one in 1985.

Ten years ago, ODU was still regionally strong dominating the Colonial Athletic Association until Drexel finally took them down.

On Thursday night, under third-year coach Nikki McCray-Penson,  a former Tennessee star and assistant to Dawn Staley at South Carolina, the Lady Monarchs made it yesterday once more, ending Rice’s 30-game run in Conference USA with a 66-59 win in overtime at home before an energized crowd of 2,732, in Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va.

The win means ODU (21-3, 11-1C-USA) and Rice (16-7, 11-1) are tied for first, but ODU holds the tie break for the top seed in next month’s tournament.

Ajah Wayne had 21 points for the Lady Monarchs, while Amari Young had15 points and 11 rebounds, and Taylor Edwards scored 14.

Erica Ogwumike, the younger sister of former Stanford stars Nnemkadi and Chiney who play with the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, had 26 points and 18 rebounds.

ODU led most of regulation but went cold at the finish allowing the Owls to tie and force the extra five minutes.

A three-pointer from Victoria Morris, who did not have her normal hot shooting night, elevated ODU in the overtime to a 62-55 lead and the win.

It’s the first triumph against Rice for ODU, who joined C-USA leaving the CAA several years ago.

The two play again in Texas on the final game of the regular season.

“These fans who have been to the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight, they were in the stands,” said McCray-Penson, whose first season record was 8-23. The last NCAA appearance for the program was 2008.

“They were just energized. We wanted it for them. We wanted it for our alumni. We wanted it for all of the players who have won this Old Dominion uniform and for all of the coaches who came before us.”

Ironically, in her playing days, McCray was able to give them a few heartbreaks in one of the great national rivalries before the UConn-Tennessee series came to the front.

“In order for us to be an elite team, you’ve got to win big games,” McCray said. “We beat a very good basketball team tonight, a championship team, and they fought hard, and they fought hard.

“We were home and the ball rolled our way. We got some stops when we needed to and scored some buckets in transition, and that’s what you got to do.”

The Lady Monarchs have won nine straight and are unbeaten at home (12-0).

“I think people are paying attention to us now,” Wayne said.

(this section was sourced in the email story by Harry Minimum)

ACC: Louisville Puts the Brakes on North Carolina State

Speaking of olden times, a couple of losses by preseason favorite Louisville and a relatively unscathed run had placed North Carolina State to its best status in years dating to the times the late Kay Yow had the Wolfpack as ongoing  residents of the top five and ongoing top 10 portion of the Associated Press women’s poll.

Thanks to Jazmine Jones with 19 points and a tough defense, the No. 9 Cardinals stopped any further slippage in grabbing a 66-59 win over the host Wolfpack (22-2, 11-2 ACC), who rose to fourth this week in the weekly poll, their highest in several decades since January, 2000.

Louisville (22-3, 11-2) had lost two straight games but the win now has the Cardinals tied with N.C. State atop the ACC heading for the stretch drive.

Kyle Shook had 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots for the visitors.

Just as ODU was energized in the C-USA showdown for first place, a sellout crowd filled Reynolds Coliseum in the game played in Raleigh, but they did not get the same result as the Lady Monarchs fans.

 Though the Wolfpack were ranked among the statistical leaders in three-point shooting, they were just 5-for-20, and shot 32 percent overall for the game.

Shook was able to contain Elissa Cunane, who was averaging 17 points and 10.5 rebounds per game but was held to 10 points, shooting 1-for-10 from the field. N.C. State’s Kayla Jones scored 17.

Had Louisville lost, it would have been the first three-game slide in eight seasons. The Wolfpack last won the ACC regular season 30 years ago in 1989-90, the first season that UConn became a ranked team.

SEC: Tennessee Felled by LSU

Nikki McCray-Penson wasn’t the only coach with Tennessee DNA having great moments Thursday night.

In fact, Nikki Fargas (Caldwell) drew her enjoyment directly from having her unranked LSU squad down her alma mater, No. 25 Tennessee, 75-65, in a Southeastern Conference game played at the Tigers’ home in Baton Rouge, La.

Khayla Pointer had 24 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, while Awa Trashi nailed five treys on the way to 22 points and LSU (18-5, 8-3 SEC) handed the Lady Vols (17-7, 7-4), under first-year coach and another former player in Kellie Harper, their third straight loss.

That setback compiled with No. 5 Connecticut’s pounding by top-ranked South Carolina Monday night could create a first in the next AP Poll coming Monday – the Huskies out of the Top five and Tennessee unranked in the same week.

Of course, this dates to UConn’s first ranking, which is the Huskies’ 30^th anniversary this week with an appearance on Feb. 12, 1990.

By then, Tennessee was on a record streak of 500 plus appearances and UConn has been in the Top 5 for 253 straight weeks dating to Feb. 5, 2007.

So, over that combined span one or the other or both occurred.

As for the rest of the game details from Thursday, Tennessee was right there until LSU broke loose in the fourth quarter outscoring the visitors 26-17.

The win gives the teams a split in the season series with the Lady Vols winning the first, 63-58, last month when Rennia Davis scored 30 in Knoxville. In this one, she had 19 of which 15 came in the second half.

Next Hall of Fame Action: Cash and Catchings on the Road to a Double? Justice for Mulkey and Grentz?

After Swin Cash, former WNBA and UConn star, and Tamika Catchings, likewise, except change the school to Tennessee, were announced Monday as part of this spring’s Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame class in Knoxville, expect the duo to be among the finalists when the Naismith Hall announces the next stage in Atlanta at 5 p.m., where the NBA All-Star game activities are this weekend.

It will be poignant in that Kobe Bryant was on the list of first time eligibles for the Hall located in Springfield, Mass.

A maximum of four women from the subcommittee are allowed on the finalists list.

Another who was considered and should be a frontrunner is Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who has been bypassed twice but deserves induction. Last year only three were put forward. 

Others who could emerge are former Immaculata star Marianne Stanley, but she is considered for a coach who won three national titles at Old Dominion, and now will be first year coach with the WNBA Indiana Fever.

Val Still, former Kentucky and WNBA star from Palmyra, N.J., was inducted in Knoxville last summer.

Barbara Stevens, who has won over 1,000 games as a coach, mostly at Bentley, is a past finalist, while Becky Hammon, as much with the added notoriety as an NBA assistant coach, wouldn’t be a shock.

Also,a recently created women’s veteran committee gets a direct-elect so it would be nice to hear former Immaculata star Theresa Grentz’s name be called. She is listed under her maiden name, Theresa Shank.

Looking Ahead: Ivy Night/Weekend for Penn and Princeton

Only two of the Guru’s D-1 crowd play Friday night heading into weekend on Valentine's Day and both are traveling the Ivy League circuit.

Princeton (17-1, 5-0 Ivy), which is rolling, can put some distance behind the crowd in seeking a third straight regular season title (they shared with Penn last year), when the Tigers travel to Yale for a 6 p.m. tip in New Haven, Conn., at the John J. Lee Amphitheater while Penn (13-5, 3-2) at the same hour will look to continue off last weekend’s sweep at home when the Quakers play at Brown at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.

Nationally, the game of the night is late for those looking to view from the East Coast, as No. 3 Oregon visits No. 7 UCLA in Los Angeles at 11 p.m. here in a game with first place implications in the PAC-12.

A key Big East game has No. 13 DePaul hosting Butler in Chicago.

On Saturday, La Salle travels to Saint Joseph’s at 2 p.m. for the second game in their season series in the Atlantic 10. The Explorers will be coming off a win Wednesday at George Washington. 

In their previous meeting, the Explorers ended a seven-game slide against the Hawks last month in Tom Gola Arena and that one was also the final Big Five game of the season that had already been co-shared claimed by Temple and Villanova.

At the same time the Explorers and Hawks tip Saturday in Hagan Arena, Temple will be hosting Houston at 2 p.m., playing in McGonigle Hall, trying to stop a two-game slide in the American Athletic Conference. 

Both teams are battling for a top six finish to earn a bye in the tourney next month at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

The Ivy travelers switch off sites on Saturday as Penn visits Yale at 4 p.m. in New Haven while Princeton will be at Brown at 5 p.m.

Rider, as mentioned, will be at Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y., Saturday going for a sweep.

On Sunday, as mentioned, in the Big Ten duo, Rutgers is hosting Michigan at noon, while Penn State is hosting Maryland at 2 p.m.

Drexel, in the Dragons’  one game of the weekend, trying to keep both a win streak and hold of first place in the CAA, travels to finish its season series with Delaware, looking for a sweep playing the Blue Hens at 1 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

Villanova, in its lone Big East game, travels to the nation’s capital looking for a sweep of Georgetown at 2 p.m. in the Big East.

Nationally, with a perfect record lifetime in The American conference but a pounding in its last national game, losing Monday at South Carolina, there’s some intrigue with UConn traveling to South Florida at 2 p.m. since the Bulls are considered one of the better programs capable of a challenge.

No. 16 Texas A&M is at Tennessee, with the Vols looking to recover from Thursday’s loss to LSU.

On Monday, Oregon State is at UCLA to finish the prime games in the PAC-12.

On Saturday with all the smalls playing, Rowan will looking to move closer to clinch the top seed in the NJAC, while same for USciences in the CACC South, with Holy Family hoping to get closer before their second meeting Tuesday in Southwest Philadelphia. Jefferson also has a game. 

And that is your report.