The Guru Report: UConn Ends Long Top Five Streak: Smalls Showdown at USciences

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

And so, it happened.

After 253 weeks, Connecticut’s long run in the top five of the Associated Press women’s poll ended after existing for more than a decade.

The thing is, there’s even a longer run still alive in the Top 10 not likely to go away anytime soon because the last days of the Huskies’ unbeaten life in the American Athletic Conference prior to moving into the Big East will continue.

And the consecutive ranking streak in general has a good chance to snap the run that Tennessee upheld until it crashed several years ago.

Speaking of the Lady Vols, as they continue to play jump rope in and out until they find a way to take hold like the old days, Tennessee’s exit this week after living in the lower section for 13 appearances makes this the first time in the same poll, beginning with Notre Dame’s first ranking on Dec. 31, 1990, that neither one of the two traditional powerhouses are listed.

This is also the first week since UConn’s first ranking on Feb. 12, 1990, that in the same poll, neither Tennessee was ranked, nor the Huskies held No. 5 – one or other and many time both happened until this week.

That said, let’s move on to other news and some catchup since technical difficulties caused the Guru to just hold off a report after Sunday’s local games knowing there’s catch-up space here with no locals played Monday night, nor any local D-1’s to note for Tuesday.

Baylor Milestones

The defending NCAA champion Bears are on their Big-12 schedule, headed for Texas Tech Tuesday night, and if they win, head coach Kim Mulkey, also a former Louisiana Tech star, will reach her 600^th career victory to make her 600-100 and her arrival would be faster than any men’s or women’s coach previously hitting that number.

UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who is at 716, got to his 600^th his 22nd season while this is Mulkey’s 20^th.

Speaking of Top Five’s, this week Baylor broke a tie with Duke for total Top 5 rankings and the Bears are now 7^th with 168. The six in front are Tennessee (464), Connecticut (445), Louisiana Tech (279), Stanford (248), Notre Dame (178), Texas (178).

UCLA Beats Oregon State in Overtime

There was another major clash in the loaded Pac-12 Monday, however, and once again, Oregon State, which once was headed for a potential No. 1 ranking, took another drop, this time to 15^th, and is still on a slide, beaten by No. 8 UCLA 83-74 in overtime in the Bruins’ Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Charisma Osbourne had 22 points, including seven in the extra period, for the Bruins (22-3, 11-3 Pac-12), while Japreece Dean had 22 points and 12 assists, and Michaela Onyenwere had 16 points and 11 rebounds, rallying from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.

Osbourne’s points and Dean’s assists were career highs.

Oregon State (19-7, 7-7), which has now lost three straight games, was led by Mikayla Pivec, who scored 19 but fouled out with 3:42 left in the extra period, while Destiny Slocum scored 19, but only five in the overtime.

Dean passed her 1,000^th point in her third season and finished with a career total of 1,016, heading to the next game. She previously played at Texas Tech.

The traveling Beavers have a chance to make up some ground, visiting Stanford on Friday in Palo Alto. 

The Cardinal were poised to get stunned at Colorado but in the final seconds scored five to win and move up to fourth, otherwise, UConn might have held its poll spot.

Perretta’s Last Regular Season Rodeo at Finneran

Just an early alert for those not wedded to other D-1 teams in the area playing Sunday like Drexel, Rider or Delaware, that is the day of Villanova’s final regular season home game in the Big East at 1 p.m., playing No. 13 DePaul.

Thus, it is the last home appearance for veteran coach Harry Perretta, who will be heading into retirement at the conclusion of his 42md season on the Main Line.

The following weekend, the Wildcats are at Creighton in Omaha, Neb., Friday night, and at Providence in R.I., that Sunday.

The Big East tournament opens the following Friday in Chicago at DePaul’s Wintrust Arena.

Villanova is not expected to land in the NCAA tournament but is close to being eligible for an at-large WNIT bid and if that occurs, consider it likely Perretta would get an encore home appearance in the opening round.

Small College Tuesday: the Clash of USciences and Holy Family

With no Local D-1 games Tuesday, the top two teams in the South Division of the D-II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) meet at 5:30 p.m. in Southwest Philadelphia, near The Palestra, where No. No. 18 USciences will host Holy Family in the Devils’ Bobby Morgan Arena.

This game still has important implications attached even if a few more are barely existing.

Way Back in December at the CACC opener Holy Family (15-9, 13-3 CACC), under new coach and alumna Bernadette Laukaitis, upset USciences in the Tigers’ Campus Center Gymnasium in Northeast Philadelphia.

Since then, USciences (22-3,15-1) has won 15 straight games, but for much of the way the Tigers were still in front until a recent two-game slide flipped the Devils back in front by a game.

 However, after recovering with a win, Holy Family let one get away last week, but have since clinched a spot in the CACC tourney after a year’s absence.

For the Devils, a win clinches a fourth straight regular season title and five out six years. 

But still a Tigers win gives them a sweep, and actually an informal three-game streak if you want to count last August’s championship by Holy Family won over USciences in the title game of the Philadelphia/Suburban NCAA Certified Women’s  Basketball Summer League in Hatboro.

It also brings Holy Family back within a game and mathematically a chance to tie and then get the better seed off the sweep.

Jefferson, meanwhile, is fighting for the last playoff spot and has played better down the stretch. On Tuesday night the Rams will host Georgian Court at 6 p.m. in the Gallagher Center.

Over in South Jersey, Rowan, a Division III program, can clinch the top seed in this weekend’s New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff, when the Profs host Kean at 6 p.m. in Glassboro on Wenesday.

Catching Up: Drexel Defenses Delaware; ‘Nova Sweeps Georgetown

NEWARK, Del. – OK, here’s the skinny from the locals we couldn’t get out on the web on a Guru report from Sunday, though only four games involved Guru D-1 Locals.

Two played right here in Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center and those who saw the previous encounter witnessed an entirely different game with the same outcome as Drexel smothered its longtime geographical rival Blue Hens 52-32 in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) game that was the Dragons’ 11^th straight win on the season to stay a game ahead of James Madison in first, and also the 11^th straight over the Blue Hens.

That number keeps popping up on review because late in the third period Delaware, which took Drexel into overtime last month in Philadelphia, was still on the number trailing 27-11 late in the third period.

Here’s your graphic on the situation.

The legendary Elena Delle Donne played 114 games for the Blue Hens, though a few she might have left early due to health or injury.

But if you made the Hens into an imaginary person and plugged that individual with that total into a comparison with Delle Donne’s historic career, that person for that stage of the game – given Delle Donne played when the game was two 20-minute halves – but that person in that comparison would be 115th behind all 114 by Delle Donne for points scored at that stage of the game.

As for the stat details, the final score tied for the lowest total in Delaware history after the Blue Hens only scored double digits at 12 in the fourth quarter.

The Hens (9-14, 5-7 CAA) were held to 25 percent from the field by the Dragons (18-6, 11-1), who dropped their CAA opener at Charlotte and then began their current run with an overtime win two days later at UNCW.

That was the third time this season Drexel held an opponent to 32 or less points. – the others being La Salle of the Atlantic 10 and Hofstra.

Drexel had not many Monsters of the Midway in this one, just a well-tooled balanced machine.

Keishana Washington got double digits with 14 points, while Bailey Greenberg scored nine, but she did move into third on the all-time Drexel scoring list at 1,656 points.

Aubree Brown scored eight as did Mariah Leonard.

Delaware’s Jasmine Dickey had a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

 Nicole Enabosi was held to four points, which still got her to fourth on the all-time list with 1,561, still a long way from Delle Donne career numbers. She did get 10 rebounds, however, to get to 1,031, and move within 33 of Danielle Parker’s program record.

This weekend, Drexel hosts William & Mary Friday at 7 at the Daskalakis Athletics Center while Delaware hosts Elon at 11 a.m. then on Sunday the Dragons host Elon at 2 p.m. while Delaware hosts William & Mary at 1 p.m.

Elsewhere, Villanova made it a sweep of Georgetown, beating the Hoyas 48-40 in a Big East game in the nation’s capital.

Mary Gedaka and Bridget Herlihy each scored 15 for the Wildcats (14-11, 8-6 Big East). 

Freshman Maddy Siegrist upped her conference-leading double double count to 10 with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Nikola Kovacikova scored 12 for Georgetown (5-20, 2-12).

On Friday, Villanova will host Marquette in a key game at 7 p.m. on Star Wars night ahead of Sunday’s game with DePaul.

In the Big Ten, Rutgers bounced off its previous loss to beat Michigan 62-41 in the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J., as Arella Guirantes scored 24 points, Mael Gilles scored 14, Tekia Mack scored 12, and Khadaizha Sanders scored 10 for the Scarlet Knights (18-6, 8-6 Big Ten) who earned a split with the Wolverines (16-9, 7-7) and moved into a tie for fifth with four games left in the regular season.

“There’s no doubt this was a must-win game,” said Rutgers Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer. “It was the biggest game of the year and we won it by playing together. Michigan is a very good team and we did what we needed to do to beat a team of that quality. Four players in double digits and rebounding and defense. That’s what it took.”

Rutgers heads to Northwestern Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats are tied with No. 7 Maryland for first.

Speaking of the Terrapins, leading by one at the half, they used the next two quarters to stifle Penn State, 106-69 at the Lady Lions’ Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Kamaria McDaniel scored 22 points for the home team, while Siyeh Frazier 16, and Alisia Smith scored 10.

“We took a punch and we didn’t respond,” said first-year coach Carolyn Kieger, formerly at Marquette. “We have to learn how to fight harder and be tougher.”

Penn State next goes to Iowa Saturday at 3 p.m.

The other three teams playing Wednesday in the local D-1 group are Temple hosting Memphis at noon in the annual Kids Day game in the Liacouras Center in an American Athletic Conference game, Saint Joseph’s is on the road at Davidson in an Atlantic 10 game at 2 p.m., La Salle hosts VCU at 5 p.m. in the Tom Gola Arena going for three straight in the Atlantic 10 on the front end of a doubleheader with the men.

On Thursday Rider is at Quinnipiac in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at 6 p.m. in Hamden, Conn.

The other Friday games, besides, Villanova, Drexel, and Delaware, has Penn hosting Dartmouth at 7 p.m. in The Palestra, while Princeton, now back in the AP poll at 25^th, hosts Harvard at 6 in Jadwin Gym in Central Jersey.

And that’s the report.